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WEEK OF DECEMBER 25 THROUGH DECEMBER 31
Palestinians Mourn Execution of Saddam (Former Iraqi dictator mourned in West Bank, Gaza: Seen as
steadfast ally, mourned as martyr)
Saddam Hussein to be Executed
Tonight
Christians Flee Iraq, Find Syria 'Ruthless'
(Ministries say believers have no Mideast refuge)
Dec. 29….(WND) Christians may be fleeing war-torn Iraq and
the fighting Islamic factions there to Syria, but that nation also holds
"ruthless" positions against Christianity which range from life in prison
for talking about your beliefs to death for a Muslim who converts, according
to a ministries working there. "It's better than Iraq, but it's no bed of
roses there for sure," Jim Jacobson, president of Christian Freedom
International told WND. "The Christians (there) are stuck between a rock and
a hard place." While Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Iran and other Middle East nations
are well-known for persecuting Christians, Syria's actions are of a lower
profile. But it is listed among those nations around the world that
persecute Christians by everyone from Jacobson's organization to the US
government. In Syria, the constitution requires the president to be a Muslim
and specifies that Islamic jurisprudence is a principal source of
legislation. And sharing your Christian faith with someone, anyone, is
discouraged as "posing a threat to the relations among religious groups" and
carries a penalty of up to life in prison, he said. "For Christians, one of
the core tenets is the ability to share your faith, but in Syria that can
lead to arrest (and) persecution," Jacobson said. "We list Syria as one of
the top countries where Christians are facing real persecution." "Syria
isn't Saudi Arabia, but it's one of the big untold stories out there," he
said. For those who want to convert from Islam to Christianity, "you're
disowned by your family, if the local mosque issues a death threat, no one
is going to do anything about it, you'll just end up dead. Nothing is done,
no police action, that's just understood. "If you convert you'd better leave
the country," he said. For those who already are Christian, the government
allows them to practice their religion, but within harsh and restrictive
guidelines. A Christian is not allowed to proselytize, ever. And churches
who want to hold an extra service must get a government permit. Sermons are
routinely monitored, as is church fundraising. He said the issue for Iraqi
Christians is the choice of being dead soon in Iraq, or taking your chance
in Syria and so they are flooding into Syria. An Iraqi population of
Christians estimated at 1.2 million before the war now is holding at about
500,000, he said, with a good many traveling to Syria. The status of
Christianity in Syria reached the headlines recently as Pastor Rick Warren,
author of "The Purpose-Driven Life," visited there and described it for the
Syrian media and on a video as a moderate nation. "It's a tragic, tragic,
tragic situation. We're very concerned about the future of Christians in the
region. When people are choosing to go to Syria, which certainly is no
friend of Christians at all, it's a pretty bad situation," said
Jacobson. He said one project his organization has been developing is to
encourage the United States and other nations to be willing to accept as
refugees many of those fleeing Iraq, Syria and other Mideast nations. "If
you're going to a place like Syria, it's really because you've got no place
to go," he said. He said the government in Syria uses a lot of "window
dressing" such as formal recognitions of Easter and Christmas and the like,
to give the impression of an open and tolerant atmosphere. However, that's
common from a lot of the "brutal regimes" whose agendas include the
destruction of Christians. For example, North Korea offers tours of
"Christian" churches operating within its borders. "The treatment on the
ground is far different," Jacobson said. "If you're a Christian, you don't
talk about it. If you try to share your faith, distribute Christian
literature, distribute a Bible, something any religion should be allowed to
do, you're going to get arrested and asked to leave the country. You can't
do that there." The group International Christian Concern said Syria has
some of the same characteristics, regarding its treatment of Christians as
North Korea, Vietnam, Egypt and China. And a special report from The
Voice of the Martyrs listed Syria among three dozen or more nations where
Christians face "arrest, imprisonment, physical torture and death. He
said the fact that Syria has become what appears to be a "home base" for a
number of terrorist organizations also is a "destabilizing factor.
US Abandoning Israel?
Dec. 29….(Hal Lindsay) The recommendations issued by the Iraq
Study Group and the way they are being received suggest a US shift in a new
direction, in favor of the Muslims. I believe the factor that most
influenced this change is the presence of co-chairmen James Baker and Lee
Hamilton on the panel. Their report accepts the Saudi contention that the
conflicts in the Middle East are really the result of Israel not giving the
Palestinians what they're asking for. You know, this would be humorous if it
were not so serious. All Israel is asking for, in order to give the
Palestinians what they want, is for them to stop attacking them. And I
believe it was Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's intention, before he had the
tragic stroke, to withdraw from Gaza to demonstrate that statehood wouldn't
bring peace. And it hasn't. Instead, it brought an avalanche of highly
trained terrorists with lethal weapons into Gaza and a non-stop barrage of
outgoing missiles into civilian population centers in Israel. I believe it
may well have been Prime Minister Sharon's plan to say, "Now in the light of
that, why should we give them control over the West Bank and pull out and
give them a state there when that didn't bring peace in Gaza. So why do we
expect it to bring peace in the West Bank?" It forces the conclusion, and
I'm sure that this was his strategic intention, that the Palestinians don't
want a Palestinian state beside Israel. They want a Palestinian state
instead of Israel. In Palestinian schools, children learn there is no
such thing as a state of Israel. It's just a "Zionist entity." None of their
maps show the existence of Israel. All of Israel is labeled "Palestine." So
with the US administration now actively pressing for Palestinian statehood,
it is forcing Israel into an utterly indefensible position. If we force
Israel to accept a state dedicated to its destruction in its very heartland,
it will find itself with no sanctuary. With highly-trained terrorists armed
with sophisticated weapons coming from the West Bank and east Jerusalem, the
heartland of Israel is almost indefensible now. The escalation of terror
will grow exponentially, as it has grown in Gaza. I believe the United
States needs to take very careful heed to what God said. I believe God has
blessed the United States, for reason, because of America's unflagging
support for Israel. But if we back away, then God's promise to them will
fall on us. He said in Genesis 12:3, to the descendants of Abraham, "I will
bless those who bless you and those who curse you, I will curse." Let's all
pray for wisdom for America's leaders before America feels the weight of
that curse.
Strategic Trends By Koinnia House
Dec. 28….(Chuck Missler/KHouse) Throughout the year we
have been monitoring ten specific global, social, political, and economic trends
that we believe are significant to our nation, as well as the Body of Christ. We
regularly examine these Strategic Trends on our website and in our various
publications. Today we would like to briefly review each of these trends and
take a look back over some of 2006's major milestones.
Weapons Proliferation
The acquisition of nuclear, biological,
and chemical weapons by both terrorists and rogue nations is perhaps one of the
greatest threats to our national security. This past year the international
community has focused its attention on Iran and
North Korea in their attempts to stifle weapons proliferation. US intelligence
officials have also kept a close watch on Russia and China, key suppliers of
technology, components, and weaponry. This past year Iran's uranium enrichment program has continued to
be the subject of intense international scrutiny. Iran's president has boasted
that his country will have obtained full nuclear capabilities by March. He also
vowed to install up to 60,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium. With troops already
deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Bush appears, at least for the time
being, to be committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the standoff. Some
experts have speculated that Israel may be planning a pre-emptive strike,
although military action would most likely be used as a last resort. In 1981,
Israel bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor when it believed Saddam Hussein was
close to producing a nuclear bomb. If Israel does attack Iran it would
undoubtedly bring about a firestorm in the Middle East. Unfortunately we are
running out of time, and neither Israel nor the United States are willing to
accept the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran. If diplomacy continues to fail,
military action may be our only option. On
October 9th, 2006, North Korea carried out its first-ever nuclear weapons test,
officially joining the nuclear club. Experts suspect that North Korea currently
possesses between six and eight nuclear weapons. However a June report from the
Institute for Science and International Security said North Korea had enough
radioactive material to build as many as 13 bombs. North Korea is the most
unstable member of the nuclear club, and experts have expressed fear that the
test may trigger an Asian arms race.
The geopolitical situation in
Asia has grown increasingly unstable. At the same time,
China has significantly increased military spending. China's military buildup
seems specifically designed to fit a conflict scenario involving US air and
naval forces. The Chinese military is preparing for a war with the United
States, a war which its commanders believe is inevitable. Recently US
defense officials revealed that a Chinese diesel-powered attack submarine came
within firing range of US naval ships without being noticed. According to the
Washington Times, a submarine tailed the USS Kitty Hawk undetected, surfacing
within five miles of the aircraft carrier before being spotted during
surveillance flights. In November China's foreign
currency reserves passed the 1 trillion dollar mark, setting a new record for
the world's largest currency reserves and sparking a debate over China's
economic policies. China's currency reserves have been growing at a rate
of nearly 30 million dollars per hour, fueled primarily by its large trade
surplus, which tripled last year to 102 billion dollars. China's red hot economy
has been growing even faster than analysts predicted. The Chinese economy is now
expected to grow by more than 10 percent this year.
The Struggle for Jerusalem
In January of this year the
Israeli-Palestinian peace process was thrown into turmoil when Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke and subsequently fell into a coma. A few
weeks later the Palestinians held their much-delayed parliamentary elections, in
which the terrorist group Hamas was handed a landslide victory. Hamas won 76 of
132 seats in parliament. Fatah, which was founded by the late Yasser Arafat and
has controlled Palestinian politics for the last four decades, won only 43
seats, plunging the region into a period of uncertainty. In July, Lebanese
terrorists from Hezbollah crossed the border into
Israel seized two soldiers, and killed at least seven others. The raid triggered
a month long war in which Israel attempted to target Hezbollah's strongholds in
Beirut and southern Lebanon. During the conflict Hezbollah fired more than 4,000
rockets into northern Israel. This past year found
Israel battling on two fronts. In addition to the war in Lebanon, Israel
has carried out a counter-terrorist offensive in Gaza. Tensions in the region
have grown increasing fragile, and violence threatens to consume the entire
Middle East. Tensions between Israel and its enemies in Syria and Iran have
continued to mount. Furthermore, in recent weeks concerns have emerged that
Syria, Iran, and the terrorist group Hezbollah may attempt to over through the
fragile Lebanese government.
Many experts believe that a large-scale
confrontation between Israel and its neighbors
could be on the near horizon. Which has made Syria’s growing relationship with
nations such as Iran and Russia more concerning. Russia has been carefully
cultivating ties with Turkey, Iran and Syria. After losing the Mid-East foothold
provided by Saddam Hussein's Iraq, the Russians have been building a new axis of
power based on those three key countries. These developments could be a sign
that the famed battle prophesied in Ezekiel 38 and 39 is on our near horizon. It
is during this battle, that God will directly intercede to protect Israel from
Magog and its allies. In recent years Russia
has repeatedly expressed its desire to play a larger role in the Middle East.
Russia is a key player in world energy markets and it has reaped huge economic
benefits from rising energy prices. In the past year Russia has also
demonstrated its willingness to use energy as a political tool. Russia holds the
world's largest natural gas reserves, the second largest coal reserves, and the
eighth largest oil reserves. Russia is also the world's largest exporter of
natural gas. Statistics published this year by the oil cartel OPEC show that
Russia has, for the first time, surpassed Saudi Arabia as the world's leading
oil producer. Traditionally, Russia has had to settle for second place. But in
recent years Russia has re-nationalized and modernized much of its energy
industry and that policy now appears to be paying off.
In the past year Russia has increased its military shipments to nations
like Iran and Venezuela, not to mention potential US adversaries like China.
Russia now supplies the bulk of Iran’s conventional arms. In the past three
years the value of arms shipments between Russia and Iran has risen from $300
million to $1.7 billion. That includes a proposed air-defense system that could
serve as a deterrent against any American or Israeli strike on its nuclear
installations. Russia's arms sales to Iran have added more tension to
already-strained US-Russian relations. To make matters worse, evidence suggests
that Iran may be funneling arms from Russia to terrorist groups. During the
recent war in Lebanon, Israel found Russian-made anti-tank missiles capable of
destroying Israel's heavily armored Merkava tanks. This weapon turned out to be
one of the terrorist's most effective weapons. According to one report, it was
responsible for the deaths of 50 of the 118 Israeli soldiers who died in the
34-day war. The growing partnership between
Iran and Russia has greatly hindered UN efforts to put a stop to Iran's nuclear
ambitions. As a veto-wielding member of the Security Council, Russia has thus
far resisted any efforts to pass sanctions against Iran.
The Rise of Islam
The Muslim faith is becoming an
increasingly volatile catalyst in today's international scene. Islam is the
world’s fastest growing religion, and it is second in size only to Christianity.
As Islam grows and spreads throughout the world, Muslim extremists have sought
to shift the balance of power in many regions of the world. Muslim groups have
seized power in various regions of Asia and Africa.
For example, armed militiamen have taken control of much of southern Somalia in
recent months where they have begun to enforce strict Islamic law. Just last
week officials in a southern Somalia town warned residents that anyone who does
not pray five times a day will be beheaded.
The Rise of a European Super-state
Over the last few years we have watched
closely as the European Union has emerged as a growing world power.
Bulgaria and Romania are set to join the EU in January of
2007 and both Croatia and Turkey have begun negotiations for membership. In
recent months there has been growing disillusionment with the progress of
Turkey's entry bid. Before Turkey can be admitted to the EU it must meet a long
list of requirements. Even then, its acceptance into the European community is
not assured. When the EU began accession talks with Turkey last October opinion
polls indicated that nearly 70 percent of Turkish citizens wanted to join the
European Union. However over the past six months that statistic has changed
dramatically. It seems that the optimism felt at the onset of negotiations has
waned. A new poll, conducted by the EU, indicates that the percentage of Turks
who look on the EU favorably has dropped to only 43 percent. The on-going
disagreement over Cyprus is undoubtedly one of the biggest hindrances to
Turkey's EU membership. Unless Turkey resolves the issue soon, the EU may halt
negotiations.
As we examine the events of this past
year we must acknowledge the growing influence of the United Nations. The UN is
often seen as the future embodiment of global government, and in recent months
the world body has continued on a path toward broad reform. Government
reinvention is frequently an effort to avoid the consequences of failed policies
in the past, or to justify a government's continued expansion by posing
solutions to the problems it has created. Historically, government never
downsizes voluntarily; it always increases its power and minimizes
accountability to its citizens. Over the last decade, the United Nations has
unabashedly pushed for what it calls "global governance." The UN is positioning
itself for global power, no doubt it will use the scandal and the ensuing
"reforms" to advance closer to that goal.
Global Religion
It may seem difficult to imagine the
world united under one ruler and one religion, especially with the bloody ethnic
battles taking place in the world today. However, the violence caused by
religious and cultural conflicts could in fact be the catalyst that brings about
drastic change. The desire for world peace, the deterioration of moral values in
the Western world, the restriction of religious freedom in
America, and the continued persecution of Christians in other
parts of the world could all pave the way for the emergence of a global
religion.
The Decline of the US
This year the United States has faced
growing threats to its security, both from abroad and from within our borders.
The blood shed on September 11, 2001 became the
catalyst in the war on terrorism. That tragic event briefly united Americans in
a common cause, however that unity has splintered. National tragedy may have
amalgamated the masses, but growing differences in values and philosophy have
driven a wedge down the middle of American society. Americans are fighting a
battle both in foreign lands and here at home. In the war against terrorism our
enemy is easily defined, however the domestic battle lines are more muddled. It
would seem that, as a nation, we have begun to abandon the faith and values of
our founding fathers.
Controversial topics like same-sex marriage, abortion, embryonic stem cell
research, and teaching intelligent design in public school classrooms have
continued to divide the populace. Unlike the war on terror, however, this
confrontation has primarily taken place in courtrooms rather than on
battlefields. Russia
Playing Energy/Weapons Cards In High Stakes World Domination Game Dec. 28….(Bill
Wilson/KIN) As the New Year approaches all eyes should be trained on Russia,
a country seeking to dominate the world political scene by renewing old Soviet
Union alliances with Middle East Islamic nations and bridging the gap between
capitalism and communism with shrewd, but unethical, business deals and
totalitarian political moves. Russia has been the main mover and shaker behind
the billion dollar-plus development of Iran’s nuclear program. In addition,
Russia has created deals throughout the Middle East for oil and natural gas
exploration, often in exchange for economic packages that include Russia’s
prominent manufactured export, weapons and weapons systems. Meantime, Russia
steadily has been gaining control of natural gas supplies and fields by breaking
agreements with multinational oil companies and nationalizing their efforts
under the state-owned energy company, Gazprom. After forcing Shell Oil Company
into a subordinate position once it invested time and money in successful gas
exploration in Siberia, Russia has set its targets now on British Petroleum in
an effort to nationalize its holdings in the Russian gas fields. Russia is
threatening to cut off gas supplies to former Soviet bloc countries, like
Belarus, if Belarus does not pay double or triple for gas or allow Russia’s
Gazprom to have controlling ownership in the Belerus gas company Beltransgaz.
Syria was in Moscow last week with some half a billion dollars worth of Iranian
money for weapons and weapons technology. It was reported earlier this year that
Russia intends to build a strategic nuclear submarine base in a Syrian port.
Russia has also made energy deals with Saudi Arabia, and has supplied Algeria,
Jordan, Syria, and Iran with top of the line military equipment and technology.
Russia has blocked any strong actions by the United Nations Security Council
against Iran’s nuclear program, even though Moscow agreed to what amounts to a
toothless, pre-sanction deal with the Security Council before Christmas. During
wars in 1967 and 1972, Israel defeated Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Jordan handily,
but both wars were encouraged by the Soviet Union, who supplied weapons,
technology and advisors. Russia always has been cagey about its attacks on
Israel and the United States, choosing to do them through surrogates. Soon,
however, Russia will not be able to hide its desires—in this past summer’s
Hezbollah war against Israel, Russian weaponry played a very public role. The
Lord said of Russia in Ezekiel 39:2-4, “I will turn you around and lead you
on…and bring you against the mountains of Israel…You shall fall upon the
mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and all the peoples who are with
you.” Between
Wars, US Toughening Up on Israel Dec. 28….(Arutz)
Quoting "Israeli and US sources," MENL reports that the State Department has
blocked the transfer of weapons and technology to Israel over the past three
months, reflecting deteriorating relations between the two countries since the
war in Lebanon in August of this year. The unofficial suspension of US arms
deliveries, beginning in late September, halted the airlift of air-to-ground and
other munitions that had been ongoing since the war, despite Israel's continuing
need for them. Israel says it needs the equipment in order to replenish
munitions and other stocks in preparation for a larger war that might include
Syria in mid-2007. "Nobody will say openly that there is a problem," a
government source said. "But there is a serious problem that reflects the
marginalization of Israel in US strategy. The administration has not rejected
any Israeli request. Instead, the State Department and Defense Department have
said that all requests must be examined." Military cooperation between the two
countries has also been hampered in other areas. The State Department recently
prevented Northrop Grumman from providing Israel with details of its Skyguard
laser weapon, which the company wanted to sell Israel. In turn, Israel suspended
negotiations to procure the system, which is designed to intercept short-range
rockets and missiles. Two reasons have been given for the deterioration in
relations. One is the perceived Israeli loss, or at least non-victory, in the
war with Hizbullah, which has undermined US confidence in Israel's military and
government. In addition, the US may be trying to assuage Saudi Arabia, whose
help the US seeks in Iraq. "There's nothing like stopping the weapons flow to
Israel to show the Saudis that the United States means business," a diplomatic
source told MENL. Millions of
Muslims Making Hajjj
Hitler's
Many Mideast Helpers
Dec. 27….(Max Boot) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has an impeccable
sense of timing. Just a week after the Iraq Study Group recommended a
heart-to-heart with him, the president of Iran convened a conference in Tehran
to examine whether the Holocaust really occurred. The answer from such
"scholars" as David Duke, the notorious former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, was a
resounding no. On one level, Ahmadinejad's embrace of Holocaust denial might
seem surprising. A man who has repeatedly called for Israel to be "wiped off the
map" surely has no problem with the murder of Jews. You might expect him to
adopt the position espoused by the Egyptian newspaper Al Akhbar, which a few
years ago ran an editorial praising Adolf Hitler and complaining only that "his
revenge on (the Jews) was not enough." Or you might expect Ahmadinejad to take
the far more common line in the Muslim world, which is to admit that, sure, some
Jews died but it was a lot fewer than 6 million and, anyway, what's the big
deal? A lot of Gentiles died, too. What makes these Yids so special? This is the
position taken by Arab "moderates" such as Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas, whose doctoral dissertation pooh-poohed the figure of 6 million
dead Jews while expressing great concern that "the German people sacrificed 10
million," implying that the killers suffered more than their victims.
Ahmadinejad does not hide behind such equivocations. He flatly calls the
Holocaust a myth. But he is hardly a model of consistency. At the same time that
he denies the Holocaust, Iran's president claims that Israel was established by
the Europeans as penance for the Holocaust. But why atone for something that
didn't occur? Never mind. Ahmadinejad says that "if the Europeans are honest" in
their claims about the Holocaust, "they should give some of their provinces in
Europe to the Zionists and the Zionists can establish their state in Europe."
This is the crux of the matter. In Ahmadinejad's view, shared by countless
others across the Middle East, whatever the Nazis did is no business of theirs,
so why inflict the "Zionist entity" on their region? It is only a small step
from this position to claiming that Israel's destruction is justified. Pointless
though it may be to argue with a madman, it is worth noting that Muslims were
not as blameless in the genocide of the Jews as Ahmadinejad and his ilk would
have it. Arab States and leaders were cheerleaders and enablers of the Final
Solution. The most famous example was Haj Amin Husseini, the grand mufti of
Jerusalem (and uncle of Yasser Arafat), who took refuge in Berlin in World War
II. A rabid Nazi, he personally lobbied Hitler to kill as many Jews as
possible and even helped out by recruiting Bosnian Muslims to serve in the
Waffen SS. Robert Satloff, one of the world's smartest Arabists, reveals
other links between the Arabs and the Holocaust in his groundbreaking new book,
"Among the Righteous: Lost Stories From the Holocaust's Long Reach Into Arab
Lands." He shows how the Nazis set up the machinery of death in North Africa.
Although "only" 4,000 to 5,000 Jews died before the Allies liberated the area in
1943, many more were consigned to forced labor camps in hellish conditions.
"Arabs played a role at every level," Satloff wrote. "Some went door to door
with the Germans, pointing out Jews for arrest. Others led Jewish workers on
forced marches or served as overseers at labor camps." The picture is not
entirely one-sided because, although most Arabs were either apathetic or
sympathetic to the Nazis, a small number helped their Jewish neighbors. Satloff
uncovered lost tales of "righteous Gentiles," such as the wartime rulers of
Morocco and Tunisia. And on the whole, he found that Arabs behaved no worse
under German occupation than did Europeans. But that isn't saying much because
almost every country on the continent was heavily complicit in the
extermination of their Jewish populations. Satloff's research makes a
mockery of Ahmadinejad's protestations that the Holocaust, if it occurred, was
someone else's responsibility. Individual Muslims were complicit in the horrors
of the 1940s even if, under foreign rule, they were not the primary culprits.
Worse, while Europe has disowned its terrible history, the Nazis continue to be
glorified in the Middle East. ("Mein Kampf" is a perennial best-seller in the
region.) Nowhere else in the world is Holocaust denial so prevalent. Ahmadinejad
deserves thanks for calling the world's attention to this pervasive sickness. (Max
Boot is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of "War
Made New: Technology, Warfare and the Course of History, 1500 to Today)
FOJ Note:
Most Arab leaders of the post WWII era lamented that Hitler was a
total failure because he left the Final Solution uncompleted!
Hamas
Rejects Bush's Plan for Palestinian State
Dec. 27….(YNET) The PA Hamas government has already turned
down the American (Bush Administration) proposal to form a Palestinian state in
two years with temporary borders. The PA government under chairmanship of
premier Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday declared its rejection of the American
proposal to establish a Palestinian state with temporary borders within two
years," the official Hamas website said. It added that Palestinian Prime
Minister Ismail Haniyeh "described such plans as an unacceptable intervention in
Palestinian internal affairs." Haniyeh was reported as saying "that
Washington should recognize the Palestinian people's legitimate rights including
the establishment of a fully-sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its
capital, the release of all prisoners and the return of refugees." According
to recent reports, the US State Department is weighing a proposal to form a
Palestinian state with interim borders by 2007, as part of a renewed US peace
drive in the Middle East. Meanwhile, according to the Hamas website, Haniyeh
welcomed the Jordanian initiative that aims to bring him together with PA chief
Mahmoud Abbas in Amman, and stressed the brotherly relations between the
Palestinian and Jordanian peoples. It also added that Haniyeh will "leave Gaza
on Wednesday for Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj. (pilgrimage) The site added that
Saudi Arabia planned to distribute USD 400,000 to Palestinian pilgrims attending
the Hajj.
Palestinians Moving Towards Civil War Dec.
27….(David Dolan) The shaky ceasefire between Israeli and Palestinian forces
in the Gaza Strip held more or less during December, due mainly to Israeli
restraint in the face of dozens of unprovoked Kassam rocket attacks upon Israeli
civilian communities. At the same time, violent clashes escalated between
supporters of the PLO Fatah party and the militant Hamas movement. This came as
international pressure grew upon Israel to hand over more land to the
Palestinians, despite the fact that they are obviously engaged in a substantial
domestic struggle for power, and therefore can hardly be trusted as reliable
peace partners under such tumultuous circumstances. All this was played out
against the intensifying Iranian nuclear program that threatens to engulf the
entire Middle East in a major war in 2007. Tensions between rival Palestinian
factions exploded into full-scale street fighting mid-month after an
assassination attempt was launched against Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime
Minister Ismail Haniyeh on December 14. Although the senior Hamas official was
not wounded in the attack, at least one other member of his traveling entourage
was slain, Haniyeh’s personal bodyguard. Many were wounded, including the Prime
Minister’s son. Reports said scores more were injured in fierce firefights that
followed the assault. Hamas leaders immediately blamed Fatah gunmen for the
assassination attempt, although Fatah officials denied any involvement. The
armed attack, at the Gaza Strip Rafah border crossing into Egypt, sparked
widespread street clashes that went on for several days, leaving dozens more
Palestinian gunmen and innocent bystanders dead or wounded. Palestinian and
international media outlets said the fighting grew so intense, it appeared that
the long-anticipated civil war showdown had begun between Islamic militants,
feeling quite powerful in the wake of the Hizbullah-Israel battle last July and
August, and more moderate Fatah supporters. While things appeared to have clamed
down a bit by Christmas, that seemed to be mainly because the rival Palestinian
factions were once again more focused on attacking their common Israeli
adversaries instead of attempting to settle any of the significant issues
dividing them. In a related development, the Haaretz newspaper reported that
Haniyeh’s recent visit to Iran had sealed a significant strategic relationship
between the Sunni Palestinian group and the Shiite theocratic dictatorship
ruling from Tehran. Citing unnamed senior security sources, the report said that
Hamas has now joined the radical Hizbullah militia in Lebanon as a virtual
extension of the Iranian regime, receiving most of its operational orders
and funding from Iran. Senior Israeli military officials later confirmed the
report, adding that hundreds of Hamas activists had recently been flown to Iran
to receive military and terrorist training from Iranian Revolutionary Guards,
who also oversee Hizbullah fighters operating in Lebanon. Several Israeli
military analysts said the growing Shiite Persian-Sunni-Palestinian alliance was
another ominous sign of Iran’s apparent intention to launch a major regional war
against Israel in the coming months, involving Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas to
supplement its own powerful military arsenal. They say such a conflict would be
mainly designed to counter growing international pressure against Iran’s illegal
uranium enrichment program, which is likely to end with the extremist rogue
state possessing scores of nuclear weapons in the not too distant future if not
halted by either UN sanctions or Western or Israeli military action. Iranian
officials again demonstrated their contempt for world opinion by totally
rejecting the unanimous approval of UN sanctions by the 15-nation Security
Council on Christmas Eve. The vote came after the scope of penalties proposed by
the UK, France and the US was significantly watered down by Russia, backed by
China and Qatar. Analysts noted that the Kremlin continues to build a nuclear
reactor for Iran in the south of the country, and therefore has a vested
interest in Iran’s nuclear program, while China purchases most of its oil
supplies at favorable prices from Iran. Israel
Balks At Iraq Report Dec.
27….(David Dolan) Israeli officials were not terribly surprised when the
special American panel set up to examine the controversial war in Iraq put
forward several proposals considered harmful to Israel. That was because the
Iraq Study Group was co-chaired by James Baker, the senior George Bush’s
Secretary of State who is considered by many in Israel as a borderline
anti-Semite. The report hinted that Washington’s image has been seriously eroded
in the Muslim world due to its strong backing for Israel, and this contributes
to the anti-American violence raging in Iraq. Therefore, reducing US support for
the Jewish-run state will presumably decrease attacks upon beleaguered US
forces. As part of a “new way forward,” the Iraq panel recommended that the
White House co-sponsor a new Middle East peace conference patterned on the one
convened by the first President Bush in Madrid in October 1991. That conference
led to the Oslo peace accords two years later, which were quickly crushed by
resurgent Palestinian terrorism supported by Syria, Iran and Iraq. Despite that
fact, the proposed new Mideast peace conference should include Syria and Iran,
said the Study Group, and aim to get Israel to abandon more land, especially the
vital Golan Heights and at least most of Judea and Samaria, in exchange for
additional written promises of lasting peace from the Palestinians, the Syrians
and others. British Premier Tony Blair enthusiastically endorsed the new peace
conference proposal while meeting with the current President Bush at the White
House in early December. However, the American leader sounded more guarded about
the Study Group proposal, saying he would welcome Syrian peace conference
participation “if the Assad government takes its hands off of Lebanon and stops
supporting Hizbullah.” He likewise endorsed Iranian involvement if the ruling
mullahs “halt their illegal nuclear program.” Israeli officials were encouraged
by Bush’s sane conditions, saying off the record it signaled that the current US
administration would not simply rush into a potentially fruitless new peace
conference for the sake of “forward momentum,” at least without insuring first
that the conditions for potential success are actually in place. The Study Group
report was released just after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited
Jerusalem to help unthaw the frozen Israeli-Palestinian peace process. She urged
further Israeli land evacuations from Judea and Samaria in compliance with the
international Road Map peace plan. This prompted Ehud Olmert to announce his
willingness in principal to carry out further territorial withdrawals (after
dropping the idea in the wake of the controversial war against Hizbullah forces
in Lebanon). This resurrected the pledge he made when running for Premier in
early 2006 to carry out further unilateral evacuations of up to 60,000 Jews from
their homes in Israel’s biblical heartland. However Olmert also made clear that
such evacuated land could not be transferred to a Hamas-dominated PA government,
given that the radical group continues to officially call for Israel’s total
destruction and replacement with an Islamic extremist Palestinian state.
Opposition
Group: Iran Behind 80% of World’s Terror Attacks Dec. 27….(YNET)
Iran is behind 80 percent of terror attacks around the world, and uses its elite
Qods Force to export and coordinate attacks, the National Council of Resistance
of Iran (NCRI) said in a brief released Tuesday. The NCRI is an umbrella group
of Iranian opposition groups in exile, and its stated goal is to overthrow the
Iranian government of Ayatollah Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In
2003, the US State Department added the NCRI to its list of banned terrorist
organizations, and froze the organization's assets. In its brief, the NCRI
claimed to disclose the locations of central bases within Iran of the Qods
Force, such as the "Imam Ali Training base," described as "one of the most
important training bases." The location was given as "north of Tehran, in Alborz
Kouh Street." Another alleged location given in the brief is the "Khomeini
Training base," said to be "located on Khavaran-Semnan highway, before reaching
Pakdasht Township. Col. Rezai is the commander of the base, where a large
number of foreign forces from Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine are being currently
trained." In its statement, the NCRI said that "Tehran has the most
extensive terror network in the world. It is responsible for some 80 percent of
all major terror attacks, directly or indirectly, in the past two decades.
Tehran has by far been the most sophisticated, well-funded state-sponsor of
terrorism in the world." Iran's Qods (Jerusalem) Force was the Islamic
Republic's vehicle for exporting attacks around the world, the NCRI added. "The
Qods Force is the most secretive, elite, and skilled unit of the Iranian
regime's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Formed in 1990, it is now
responsible for all the extraterritorial activities of the Iranian regime,
namely all terror attacks abroad," the NCRI said. According to the brief, Qods
Force commander, "Brig. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, directly reports to the regime's
supreme leader, Ali Khamenei." The brief included detailed alleged operational
information on how Iranian embassies around the world are being used to
coordinate Qods Force activities and terrorist operations. "Final coordination
of the Qods Force's activities around the world and provision of the appropriate
diplomatic or other cover for its agents, the use of diplomatic facilities and
immunities that facilitate receiving supplies and messages, weapons and military
equipment for its terrorist agents fall within the responsibilities of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tehran's embassies," the NCRI said. Formed with
the aim of creating "an international Islamic army," the Qods Force "has 12
directorates, as well as "International Affairs Units" in "Iraq, Turkey,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria, Middle East, Russia, Africa, and Europe,"
the brief added. It said the force also "trains non-Iranian terrorist forces
from Pakistan, Morocco, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine and other Middle East
countries. The training is provided to groups of 40 to 50 persons. The Force has
dozens of garrisons across Iran in which it trains its non-Iranian operatives.
The Qods Force has six major garrisons along Iran's borders with other
countries. They are tasked with following up terrorist operations in the
neighboring countries. Iranian
Officers take Command of Palestinian Gaza Missile Front Dec.
27….(DEBKA) The Olmert cabinet decision yesterday ordered the IDF to stick
to attacking missile crews and refrain from breaching the month-long
“ceasefire,” in the course of which the Palestinians fired 70 missiles from Gaza
at Israeli civilian locations. An Israeli appeal went out to the
(non-functioning) Palestinian Authority to halt the six-year old barrage.
Translation by DEBKAfile’s military experts: Sderot and its neighbors
will continue to live under daily missile harassment. Until the latest attack,
the army was constrained on the prime minister’s order, and against its will, to
hold its fire against the daily assaults, although they could clearly see the
assailants in Gaza. Our military sources report that the IDF does not accept the
Iran-sponsored Jihad Islami’s claim to have shot the missile which wounded the
schoolboys because since Monday, Dec. 25, two changes were detected in the
Palestinian offensive: A new type of homemade missile called Al Buraq 2 (after
the Western Wall Jewish shrine in Jerusalem), and a new unit, calling itself the
Mujahiddin Brigades, identified by military experts as the first Palestinian
terrorist unit set up by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ al Quds Brigades.
This group’s first action was to fire the new missiles at Kibbutz Nahal Oz
Monday. They were diagnosed at first as mortars, but the fragments did not match
any ordnance seen before. It was then discovered that the Mujahiddin Brigades
units, consisting of Hamas, Jihad Islami, Fatah-al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and
Popular Resistance Committees operatives, are commanded by an Iranian
Revolutionary Guards officer. Such direct Iranian command of front-line
Palestinian missile units is another innovation; it did not occur even on the
Hizballah side of the of July-August Lebanon war. Monday, too, the Americans
disclosed the capture in Baghdad of Iranian officers, members of the same RG al
Quds Brigades, on another front line: against Iraqi and coalition forces. It
looks as though the Islamic Republic has gone into action in Iraq and Gaza in
reprisal for the tepid sanctions the UN Security Council imposed Saturday, Dec.
23, for its continuing pursuit of uranium enrichment.
Is Russia an Ally of Iran?
US
finally Admits Arafat Murdered American Officials (State
Department declassifies report on 1973 terror attack in Khartoum) Dec. 27….(WND)
After 33 years of secrecy, the US State Department has finally declassified
a document admitting it knew the late Yasser
Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, plotted and
supervised the murders of two US diplomats in Sudan in 1973,
a cover-up first exposed by WND in January 2001.
The document,
released earlier this year, with no fanfare, makes it clear the Khartoum
operation "was planned and carried out with the full knowledge and personal
approval" of Arafat, a frequent visitor to the White House throughout the 1990s
who died in 2004. In the attack March 1, 1973, eight members of the Black
September terrorist organization, part of Arafat's Fatah faction of the PLO,
stormed the Saudi embassy in Khartoum on Arafat's orders, taking US Ambassador
Cleo Noel, diplomat Charge d'Affaires George Curtis Moore and others hostage,
and one day later, killing Noel, Moore and Belgian diplomat Guy Eid. The
admission comes 33 years after James J. Welsh, then the National Security
Agency's Palestinian analyst,
saw a communication intercepted from Arafat to
his terrorist commandos in Sudan. Within minutes, Welsh told WND, the
director of the NSA was notified and the decision was made to send a rare
"FLASH" message, the highest priority, to the US Embassy in Khartoum via the
State Department. But the message didn't reach the embassy in time. Somewhere
between the NSA and the State Department, someone decided the warning was too
vague. The alert was downgraded in urgency. The next day, eight members of Black
September, part of Arafat's Fatah organization, stormed the Saudi embassy in
Khartoum, took Noel, Moore and others hostage. A day later, on March 2, 1973,
Noel, Moore and Eid were machine-gunned to death, all, Welsh had insisted for
years, on the direct orders of Arafat. Welsh, who left the Navy and NSA in 1974,
spoke to WND about the incident in 2001 after years of attempting to get answers
from his own agency and the State Department. He became particularly troubled
about the cover-up of Arafat's role in the murders of American officials when
President Clinton invited the PLO leader to the White House for direct
negotiations on the Middle East. Ever since, he had been on a personal
one-man mission to uncover the tape recordings and transcripts of those
intercepts between Arafat and Fatah leader Salah Khalaf, also known as Abu-Iyad,
in Beirut and Khalil al-Wazir in Khartoum. "I have decided that my oaths of
secrecy must give way to my sense of right and wrong," he told WND. "I was
particularly outraged as I had spent four years following these individuals and,
at the moment of our greatest intelligence coup against them, an uninformed GS
level had pooh-poohed our work and cost the lives of two US diplomats," he
recalls. Welsh has continued to research the Arafat murders continually and
stumbled upon the 2006 State Department document during a routine Internet
search. The document goes on to say that Fatah leaders never expected their
hostage-taking to result in the freeing of the captives. A primary goal of the
attack, it says, "was to strike at the United States because of its efforts to
achieve a Middle East peace settlement which many Arabs believe would be
inimical to Palestinian interests." The report also said the Khartoum operation
demonstrated the ability of the Black September organization to strike where
least expected and warned the US was at risk of future attacks from the group
and its Fatah allies. Welsh believes the initial cover-up of the communications
breakdown and the role of Arafat was launched to prevent embarrassment to the
State Department and White House. President Nixon, he points out, was in the
death throes of the Watergate scandal at the time. The last thing he needed,
Welsh speculates, was an international scandal to deal with on the front page of
the Washington Post. Later, after Nixon was gone, Welsh believes the whole
matter of the Arafat tapes was kept quiet to protect the future viability of
signals intelligence intercepts of this kind. And, finally, he said, the
cover-up persisted to foster Arafat's role as a "peacemaker" and leader of the
Palestinian cause. After the deadly attack in Khartoum, Arafat ordered the
eight gunmen to surrender peacefully to the Sudanese authorities. Two were
released for "lack of evidence." Later, in June 1973, the other six were found
guilty of murdering the three diplomats. They were sentenced to life
imprisonment and released 24 hours later to the PLO. Before surrendering, the
Khartoum terrorists demanded the release of Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, the convicted
assassin of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, as well as others being held in Israeli and
European prisons. Nixon refused to negotiate. US
Presidents Overlooked Arafat's Killing of Ambassador Dec. 27….(JNEWSWIRE)
Recently
declassified US State Department documents
have confirmed the long-held (but largely ignored) belief that a man who, apart
from being responsible for the deaths of numerous US citizens, calmly ordered
the cold-blooded murder of two senior American diplomats, was welcomed,
embraced, championed and loudly applauded in the capital of the very country
whose men he had killed. (New
American Mideast policy revealed for first time) Dec. 26….(YNET)
According to the US, Olmert's little goodwill gestures
only comprise the first steps on a path aimed at realizing America's new plan
for the Middle East that is being revealed here for the first time. The final
destination is the establishment of a Palestinian state with temporary borders
within two years, before the end of President Bush's term in office. The
implications of this are that the US is significantly boosting its involvement
in the Israeli Palestinian conflict and will implement a series of measures that
would embolden the Fatah movement and weaken Hamas, including measures that
would ultimately bring about the demise of the Hamas government. Last week, US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held a seminar attended by the US State
Department's top political brass involved in the Middle East. It included US
ambassadors to countries in the region and General Dayton, who is currently
acting on behalf of the State Department in the region. According to Israeli
sources, Rice asked this group of experts to come up with fresh and creative
ideas with the purpose of consolidating a new policy for the Mideast. This
policy is set to serve, among other things, as an alternative for the
Baker-Hamilton report, in which the ideas suggested did not meet those of the
Bush Administration. The first part of the plan talks about measures carried out
by Israel as part of the process of strengthening Mahmoud Abbas and creating an
atmosphere that would allow for an upgrade in the ties between the two sides. In
fact, this boils down to a series of Israeli goodwill gestures. The meeting
between Olmert and Abbas Saturday evening, say political sources in Jerusalem,
fits the first part of the plan: At the end of the meeting a series of goodwill
gestures was concluded, which primarily included easing Palestinian movement and
providing direct economic assistance to the Palestinian president. Incidentally,
the lion's share of the funds the cabinet is set to "release" to Abbas will in
fact remain in Israel as payment of debts to Israeli suppliers such as the
Israel Electric Corporation and petrol providers. The remaining part of the
funds will be used to strengthen the presidential guard. The second phase of the
plan comprises measures aimed at strengthening Abbas' Fatah movement. At this
stage experts at the State Department are talking about the internal Palestinian
rift, including the possibility of an armed clash that would ultimately result
in, or so they hope, the establishment of a Palestinian state that would
recognize Israel. The third stage would be talks between Abbas and Israel. The
outcome of the talks would be put to a referendum in the territories, and in its
wake a Palestinian state would be established within temporary borders.
Political sources in Jerusalem estimate that the American plan will be presented
shortly, most likely by delegates of the State Department who will come to the
region ahead of Rice's visit. Dec. 25….(FOJ) [Isaiah 9:6-7
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be
upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The
mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his
government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon
his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice
from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform
this.] The Lord God indeed sent his Son 2000 years ago. His coming was a
gift to all of humanity, the gift of eternal life, if we simply choose to accept
it. The zeal of the LORD will also send His Son back to the earth in the Last
Days! Are you ready for him? Dec.
25….(DEBKA) Washington reveals capture of Iranian military agents
red-handed, just two days after UN passes mild sanctions against Tehran. The
New York Times of Dec. 24 disclosed the capture of a group of Iranians in
Baghdad. This, according to our military sources, is an opening shot in the
Baghdad salvation operation at the center of the revised strategy for Iraq which
President George W. Bush promised to unveil in the New Year. DEBKA-Net-Weekly
283, reporting on this operation on Dec. 22, disclosed that two of its key
elements are a crackdown on Shiite militias and death squads and cleansing the
capital of Iran’s military and intelligence presence. According to The New
York Times , the American military in Baghdad is holding at least four
Iranians, including senior military officials, seized in two raids last week in
central Baghdad, in circumstances highly embarrassing to top Iraqi leaders. Two
Iranian diplomats in the group were turned over to the Iraqi authorities and
released to the Iranian embassy; a number of suspected members of the Iranian
Revolutionary Guards al Quds force remain in custody and under US interrogation.
They were captured with people involved in terrorist attacks. Al Quds is
responsible for Tehran’s training projects for Hizballah and other terrorists
groups. One of the US raids took place in the Baghdad compound of the powerful
Shiite SCIRI leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, who visited the White House three weeks
ago. At least two of the captured Iranians were invited by Iraqi president the
Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani during a visit to Tehran earlier this month. An
official in Washington said the US military, acting on information that the
people detained in Baghdad had been involved in attacks on Iraqi security and
coalition forces, did not know what they were going to find. The arrests in
Hakim’s compound were made inside the house of Hadi al-Ameri, chairman of the
Iraqi parliament’s security committee and leader of SCIRI’s armed wing, the Badr
Organization. DEBKAfile’s military sources report that these were not the
first Iranian RG and intelligencer officers caught by US forces in Iraq, only
the first time that such detentions have been published. This indicates that the
Bush administration has decided finally to crack down on years of Iranian
subversion in Baghdad. According to our Iranian sources, officials in Tehran
were so preoccupied with firing off derisive comments on the UN Security Council
sanctions against their nuclear program that they were caught unawares. The
ayatollahs had not bargained on a swift US second-strike action in Baghdad. Now,
they must now decide whether to pick up the American gauntlet or let it ride
until an opportunity presents itself in Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East.
Our Washington sources reveal too that the White House has changed Iraqi
partners for its new strategy. Instead of the present political incumbents in
Baghdad, the US has brought on board the most influential Shiite and Sunni
religious leaders for the effort to stabilize the capital and end sectarian
warfare. The White House’s hopes rest now with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in
Najef, and more controversially with the noted Sunni authority, Sheik Harith al-Dari,
head of the Association of Muslim Scholars (also called the Muslim Ulema
Council), from which the Sunni insurgency derives its religious legitimacy. With
backing of this caliber, US forces finally staged a raid, previously
unthinkable, on the SCIRI leader’s compound in Baghdad. According to the latest
information reaching DEBKAfile from Iraq, US forces are in intensive
preparations for the Baghdad offensive. Military sources report Iraqi forces are
in the process of rotation: two divisions of 20,000 men are being brought into
the capital from other parts of the country, to replace the military and police
which are heavily infiltrated by Shiite militias. American reinforcements are
also streaming into Baghdad. Altogether, an extra 50,000 Iraqi and US troops are
planned for the Baghdad clean-up operation. Ahmadinejad Says “Issuers” of UN Sanctions
Against Iran “will Soon Pay” Dec.
24….(DEBKA) He called the sanctions resolution the Security Council carried
unanimously Saturday, Dec. 23, against Iran for refusing to halt uranium
enrichment “trash paper”. Iran’s senior nuclear negotiator said Iran will begin
installing 3,000 centrifuges at a uranium enrichment plan at Natanz from Sunday
and drive it with full speed. Shortly before the vote, the US and Russian
presidents conferred by telephone to overcome last-minute snags. The price of a
unanimous vote was an emasculated sanctions motion which leaves the US and
Israel minus a policy or defense for Iran’s nuclear weapons program. The final
version contains little that should inconvenience Tehran, and no word on the
clandestine military nuclear activities systematically concealed from UN
inspectors. While banning imports and exports of dangerous materials and
technology relating to nuclear enrichment, reprocessing, ballistic missile
programs and heavy water reactors, such as the one in Arak, the resolution omits
to block the far larger reactor the Russians are building at Bushehr, even
though it will be able to produce plutonium for making a weapon. Moscow has also
got away with forcing Western members to drop the proposed travel ban and
financial freeze against 11 individuals and 12 organizations from Iran which
associated with nuclear programs, to prevent them from buying dangerous
materials. Although Israel is the most directly and explicitly threatened by an
Iranian nuclear bomb, its leaders, Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni,
have clung to reliance on the “international community” for pulling its irons
out of the fire in Tehran. For years, they blindly followed the European
engagement course of President George W. Bush and secretary of state Condoleezza
Rice, even as Washington fell back in the face of Russian, Chinese and Qatari
pressure to render sanctions meaningless. Other Council members wanted the
resolution over and done with before the New Year and a new Security Council
composition, when the whole Iran sanctions process would have had to go back to
square one. Moscow and Tehran were the winners of this haste. WEEK OF
DECEMBER 18 THROUGH DECEMBER 24 Bush Signs
Law Banning Aid to Hamas Government Dec. 22….(Ha
Aretz) President Bush on Thursday signed into law legislation restricting
aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority until it recognizes Israel's right to
exist, makes financial reforms and takes other steps. The US House of
Representatives approved the bill in May, by a majority of 361 to 37, with 9
abstentions. The objective of the bill is to dry the Hamas government of funds,
thus leading to a breakdown of the government or a change in its stance. This
legislation reflects our continued concern over the failure of the current
government to renounce violence and terror, recognize Israel and respect its
previous agreements and obligations," a White House official said. In order for
the Palestinian Authority to receive funding, the president must declare to
Congress that the following conditions have been met: Firstly, no ministry,
agency, or instrumentality of the Palestinian Authority is effectively
controlled by Hamas, unless Hamas has publicly acknowledged the Jewish state of
Israel's right to exist and "committed itself and is adhering to all previous
agreements and understandings with the United States Government, with the
Government of Israel, and with the international community," including the Road
Map. Secondly, that the Hamas-controlled PA has made "demonstrable progress"
toward purging individuals with ties to terrorism from its security services,
dismantling all terrorist infrastructure with its jurisdiction, confiscating
unauthorized weapons, arresting and bringing terrorists to justice, destroying
unauthorized arms factories, thwarting and preempting terrorist attacks, and
fully cooperating with Israel's security services. Under this clause, they must
also halt "anti-American and anti-Israel incitement in Palestinian
Authority-controlled electronic and print media and in schools, mosques, and
other institutions it controls, and (replace) educational materials, including
textbooks, with materials that promote peace, tolerance, and coexistence with
Israel." Likewise, they must ensure democracy, the rule of law and an
independent judiciary, as well as adopting democratic reforms such as financial
transparency and accountability of government ministries and operations. The
United States, the European Union and others who regard Hamas as a terrorist
group, have already cut off official direct aid to the government. Despite this
ban, the United States has been able to bypass the Hamas government and provide
$468 million in humanitarian aid, primarily delivered by non-governmental
organizations. The new law Bush signed on Thursday does permit the continued
flow of humanitarian aid for Palestinians and groups not linked to Hamas, like
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party.
Syria Building 'Death Trap' Villages To
Lure Israel Into War Dec.
22….(Jerusalem Post) Warning that Israel may face a "Syrian intifada," a
high-ranking officer in Northern Command has told The Jerusalem Post that
villages recently built by Syria along the border are planned to be used as
"death traps" for IDF troops in Hizbullah-inspired attacks. Since this summer's
war in Lebanon, Syria, the officer revealed, has invested large amounts of money
in replicating Hizbullah military tactics, particularly in establishing
additional commando units and fortifying its short- and long-range missile
array. The idea is to draw Israel into an asymmetric war, the officer said, like
the warfare the IDF encounters in combat against the Palestinians in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip as well as against Hizbullah in Lebanon. Over the past two
years, Syria has built a number of villages along the border with Israel, some
inhabited and some not. At first, the IDF was not sure of their purpose. But
now, following the war, the officer said, it was understood. "Syria drew
motivation from Hizbullah's surprise success this summer," the high-ranking
officer said. "They now want to copy that type of guerrilla warfare." While for
years it was assumed that Israel had a major edge against Syria's military with
regard to a conventional war, tank versus tank, jet versus jet, in an urban
setting, the Syrian military would be able, the officer said, to wreak havoc
against IDF infantry and armored units like Hizbullah did. According to the
officer, Syria has drawn three major lessons from the war and has begun to
implement them. The first is that rockets - 4,000 struck northern Israel during
the 33-days of fighting - can paralyze the home front. The second is that
antitank missiles can penetrate the Merkava tank and force infantry units to
abandon armored personnel carriers and trek into enemy territory by foot. And
the third is that in villages and cities the Israeli Air Force's abilities are
limited and IDF ground forces can be defeated. During the war, the IDF fell into
several deadly ambushes in southern Lebanese villages; one in Bint Jbail killed
eight soldiers from Battalion 51 of the Golani Brigade. The Syrian military, the
officer said, was conducting urban warfare exercises in preparation for the
possibility of a war with Israel. The IDF has also dramatically increased its
training regiments and has, at all times, between two-to-three brigades training
in the Golan Heights. Lacking clear intelligence regarding Syrian intelligence,
the officer said that the Northern Command's "working assumption" was that there
was a possibility of war and there was a need to prepare accordingly. While
defense officials have crisscrossed in recent weeks concerning the sincerity of
Syrian President Bashar Assad's offer of peace, the top officer said that,
according to "all the signs," Syria was preparing for war with Israel. The
Syrian military has beefed-up forces along the Golan Heights and Israel has done
the same. In the Hermon, for instance, the IDF has doubled the number of troops.
"The feeling is unfortunately that another round is needed before we will be
able to engage in a dialogue or peace talks with Syria," the officer said. "It
is like with the Egyptians. The war in 1973 was what made it partially possible
for [Egyptian president Anwar] Sadat to come to Israel." Syria, the officer
said, has since the war ended, transferred truckloads of weapons and missiles to
Hizbullah. Due to the convoys, Hizbullah, he said, was almost back at its full
strength where it was before the war with Israel. Hamas
Threatens Attacks on US Dec. 22….(WND)
Members of Hamas are debating whether to carry out attacks against the
United States and may hit American targets if the US continues to support
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' call for new elections, Hamas
leaders told WND in a series of interviews. "There is no doubt that Abu Mazen (Abbas)
was encouraged to decide early elections after receiving American promises to
support him politically and military," Abu Abdullah, a leader of Hamas' Izzedine
al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, the group's declared "resistance" department, told
WND. The terror leader accused the US of instigating a Palestinian civil war.
"Here the Americans did not support the elections, they actually gave their
support and their encouragement to a Palestinian civil war. It is our duty to
prove to the Americans that they chose the wrong policy exactly like it is the
case in Iraq," said Abu Abdullah, considered one of the most important
operational members of Hamas' so-called military wing. Abu Abdullah told WND
Hamas has not yet decided to attack the US, "but one cannot guarantee that this
will be the situation if the conspiracy of chasing our government succeeds."
Asked which US targets Hamas would hit, Abu Abdullah replied, "Do you think that
I can give you an answer to this question? I can say that the Middle East is
full of American targets and the world has had the occasion to learn what are
the weapons of the anti-American forces in the region." In a move widely seen as
an attempt to dismantle the Hamas-led government, Abbas' this past weekend
called for new Palestinian elections, prompting violent clashes in the Gaza
Strip between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah party. Hamas, which won parliamentary
elections in January, has threatened to boycott the proposed new elections,
calling them "illegitimate." Hamas-Fatah clashes in Gaza have killed at least 16
Palestinians the past five days. According to multiple reports, the US has been
arming and training Fatah militants to bolster them in clashes against Hamas. A
number of Hamas members, including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, have claimed
in recent days Abbas' call for new elections was orchestrated with the US.
Several Hamas leaders told WND meetings were held in recent weeks in the Gaza
Strip and the West Bank to discuss the possibility of targeting the US due to
its perceived support of Fatah against Hamas. While the latest Hamas threats
warned of attacks against American interests in the region, some terrorism
experts and senior security officials warn that Hamas has cells inside the US
that are technically capable of attacking within the country. "We have
information Hamas agents have been on U.S. soil the past few years and that the
group may currently have up to 100 agents operating inside America," an FBI
counterterrorism agent in New York told WND last October. The comments reaffirm
earlier testimony to the US Senate in which FBI Director Robert Mueller stated,
"Although it would be a major strategic shift for Hamas, its United States
network is theoretically capable of facilitating acts of terrorism in the United
States." Intelligence sources said the FBI believes Hamas' current US network
includes trained jihadists capable of carrying out advanced attacks. Nations
Aligning May Point Toward The End of Damascus and the Beginning of the End
Dec 21—(Bill
Wilson/KIN) Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared that his
country’s scientists have mastered the nuclear cycle making Iran a legitimate
nuclear power. At the same time, al Qaeda has signaled its disapproval of
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ announcement for elections, leading
counter-terrorist analysts to believe the terror group has its sites set on
Israel as it arms Islamic fighters from Lebanon, Iraq and Gaza. In addition,
security analyst DEBKAfile reports that Syrian president Bashar Assad is in
Moscow seeking arms to bolster his army and Hezbollah terrorist. Assad has a
reported half a billion dollars of Iranian money to buy the weapons from Russian
president Vladimir Putin. The Middle East axis of Russia, Iran and Syria spells
nothing but trouble for Europe, the United States, and especially, Israel. Iran
is boldly following its plan to develop nuclear technology. Ahmadinejad knows
that there will be no effective sanctions from the United Nations Security
Council because Russia and China, both allies and multi-billion dollar business
partners with Iran, will veto any attempt to shut down the Iranian nuclear
program. Russia, in the meantime, has sold Iran sophisticated anti-aircraft
missiles in hopes of protecting the Iranian nuclear facilities from an attack by
the US or Israel. All the while, Syria, Iran’s military and security partner in
the Middle East, is seeking more Russian weaponry to arm the terrorists that are
deployed by Hezbollah in Lebanon. It is reported that al Qaeda, which is also
housed and funded in part by Iran, has secretly transferred hundreds of armed
Palestinians from Syria to Lebanon and is building mixed units of Palestinians
and Arab fighters from Iraq for planting on two Israeli borders, South Lebanon
and the Gaza Strip. These would eventually mix with the Hamas fighters that have
been armed by a quarter of a million dollars from Iran. Israel is being
surrounded by hostiles equipped, funded and trained by Iran with the aid of
Russia. Meantime, the West, led by Britain and the United States, is pressuring
Israel to restart the so-called “peace process.” Ancient prophecies in the Bible
point to two events that will signal the apocalyptic end times; Isaiah 17:1
says, “Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a
ruinous heap.” The other is Ezekiel 38 where it is said that Gog, Magog, Persia,
Ethiopia and Libya will come against Israel and be defeated. These are widely
thought to be Russia, Iran, Northern Africa and the former Persian Empire. The
aligning of these nations is occurring stronger each day and the end result
seems to point toward war against Israel. Watch and pray.
US Middle East Commander Gen. John
Abizaid Request for Another Carrier in Gulf as Warning to Syria and Iran
Dec. 21….(DEBKA) DEBKAfile’s military sources report that
this request, revealed by a senior Pentagon official, is the first time in four
years that an American general has asked for a special force as a deterrent for
Syria and Iran. Our Washington sources interpret the publication of Gen.
Abizaid’s request during the visit to Iraq of the new defense secretary Robert
Gates’ and head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace as indicating that
the Bush administration is heading for a major operation against the two key
threats to Iraq’s stability: the Sunni insurgents supported by Syria and the
Shiite militias, which receive arms, intelligence and funding from Tehran. In
its latest quarterly report, the defense department accused Iran and Syria of
undermining the Iraqi government by providing both active and passive support to
anti-government and anti-coalition forces. The application to deploy a third
carrier in the Gulf in late March 2007 is a pointer to the projected timeline of
this operation. It will confront Tehran and Damascus with the option of direct
intervention to rescue their Iraqi allies, or standing aside. President George
W. Bush is officially reported to have not yet decided on the coming steps in
Iraq. However the central command’s application for another carrier suggests
that the decision is more or less final. The carrier Eisenhower and its strike
group are already in the Gulf region accompanied by guided missile destroyers
and the nuclear assault submarine USS Newport, as is the USS Boxer Strike Group.
Another sign of an impending US operation came from Gates’ talks with US
generals and soldiers Wednesday. Whereas the soldiers did not propose a pull-out
from Iraq and urged him to send reinforcements, the generals argued against a
surge. Their reluctance stems from the fear that more manpower will result in a
higher casualty score. The generals also calculate that in a withdrawal from the
country, the bigger the force the more cumbersome and sluggish the evacuation.
US troops on the other hand explained to the new defense secretary that with a
heavier US presence on the ground, the insurgents could be held off long enough
to train the Iraqi army. They said training Iraqis is a challenge because of
their sectarian ties to militias - police officers more than army personnel.
Senators
Kerry, Dodd Meet with Syria’s Assad Dec. 21….(AP)
US Senators John Kerry and Christopher Dodd met with Syrian President Bashar
Assad on Wednesday and discussed the need for Damascus to cooperate with efforts
to maintain the unity and stability of war-ravaged Iraq, state media reported.
The US Embassy in Damascus said the meeting, which lasted two and a half hours,
covered "a full-range of topics relating to US-Syrian relations and regional
issues." "I feel quite confident in saying this was a conversation worth having
and that the (Bush) administration ought to pursue it," Kerry said in a
telephone interview with the Associated Press from Jerusalem where he traveled
after the meeting with Assad. "I feel very strongly about that. It's worth
following up on a number of avenues." Kerry said he told Assad the new
Democratic-controlled Congress has serious concerns about issues such as the
flow of "money, weapons and terrorists" through Syria into Iraq and Lebanon.
Kerry has criticized the Bush administration for refusing to engage with Syria
and Iran, a move that was recommended by the recently released Iraq Study Group,
a bipartisan panel. The Democratic senators, both prospective 2008 presidential
candidates, and Assad "reviewed the situation in Iraq and stressed the
importance of supporting the current political process to arrive at setting a
timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops," SANA said. Talks also dealt
with ways of stopping the escalating violence in the Palestinian territories,
the agency said. The Bush administration has accused Kerry, Dodd and other
senators who have met with Assad of sending mixed signals and has insisted that
the US will not make concessions to Damascus to win its help in Iraq. "We
discourage the travel of members of Congress to Syria because we believe it
undermines the cause of democracy in the region and particularly" Lebanon's
government, White House spokesman Blair Jones said Wednesday night. Syrian-US
relations have been strained for several years. The US government has expressed
reluctance to seek help from Damascus on Iraq until the Syrians curb their
support to radical Palestinian groups and to the Lebanese Hezbollah and reduce
their influence in Lebanon. The two American lawmakers arrived in Damascus on
Tuesday as part of a Middle East tour to investigate Syria's readiness to help
bring about stability and security to neighboring Iraq. Palestinian
Journalist: 'Refugees' Were Ordered to Leave by Arab Leaders
Jesus,
Mahdi Coming, Says Iran's Ahmadinejad
Dec. 20….(WND)
In a greeting to the world's Christians for the coming new year, Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he expects both Jesus and the Shiite
messianic figure, Imam Mahdi, to return and "wipe away oppression." "I wish all
the Christians a very happy new year and I wish to ask them a question as well,"
said Ahmadinejad, according to an Iranian Student News Agency report cited by
YNET news. "My one question for the Christians is: What would Jesus do if he
were present in the world today? What would he do before some of the oppressive
powers of the world who are in fact residing in Christian countries? Which
powers would he revive and which of them would he destroy?" asked the Iranian
leader. "If Jesus were present today, who would be facing him and who would be
following him?" Ahmadinejad then made a connection between Jesus and the Imam
Mahdi, believed by Shiites to have disappeared as a child in AD 941. When
the Mahdi returns, they contend, he will reign on earth for seven years before
bringing about a final judgment and the end of the world. "All I want to say
is that the age of hardship, threat and spite will come to an end someday and,
God willing, Jesus would return to the world along with the emergence of the
descendant of the Islam's holy prophet, Imam Mahdi, and wipe away every tinge of
oppression, pain and agony from the face of the world," Ahmadinejad said.
Ah,adinejad has been urging Iranians to prepare for the coming of the Mahdi by
turning the country into a powerful and advanced Islamic society and by avoiding
the corruption and excesses of the West. He sees his main mission, as he
recounted in a Nov. 16, 2005, speech in Tehran, as to "pave the path for the
glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi, may Allah hasten his reappearance." With
Iran's continued development of nuclear technology in defiance of the West, some
analysts fear Ahmadinejad's intent is to trigger the kind of global
conflagration he envisions will set the stage for the end of the world. Iran
Bankrolling Three Civil Wars in the Middle East Dec. 19….(FOJ)
The Iranian regime is manufacturing four civil wars in the Middle East now
and may finance some more in future. The violence in Iraq has now reached the
point where many experts believe that it is a civil war, a war being financed by
Shiite Iran. The Shias of Iraq have been trained, financed and armed by the
Iranian government to cleanse the Iraqi Sunnis from the major cities and
force them out of their country so that the Shias will be the great majority of
Iraq with a very small Sunni minority that could be controlled and subjugated
very easily. The new Iraqi army has been dominated by the Shias (as
directed by Iran). Nobody has a doubt that it is the Iranian regime who has
manufactured the violence in Iraq and it is directing it towards a full civil
war to create the right conditions for creating an Iraq that the Shias can
manipulate and control, in spite of the theory proposed by the ISG that Iran has
a vested interest in stabilizing the region. The leader of Iraq's most powerful
and violent Shiite militia, Muqtada al-Sadr, is a mirror-image of Iran’s
Hezbollah, perhaps hoping for the same opportunity in Iraq as it has taken in
Lebanon. According to the report from the high-level Iraq Study Group, "Several
observers remarked to us that Sadr was following the model of Hezbollah in
Lebanon: building a political party that controls basic services within the
government and an armed militia outside of the government.
Iran is financing all Iraqi Shia militia, and the cost of
maintaining Mahdi Army is estimated at more than 100 million dollars a month,
all paid by the Iranian government. It is estimated that the Iranian regime is
spending something like $500 million dollars a month in Iraq to finance
different political, cultural and militant groups. The US is spending about $1
billion dollars a week to establish law and yet it is a dismal failure. The
deputy leader of Hezbollah announced recently that his organization has received
$300 million dollars from Iran to reconstruct the Shia parts of Lebanon, which
were damaged during Israel-Hezbollah war. This amount does not include the cost
of maintaining Hezbollah which is estimated at $600 million dollars a year. If
you add the cost of present Hezbollah campaign against the Lebanese government
it is estimated that the Iranian regime is investing something like 1 billion
dollars a year for preparing Hezbollah for a civil war which according to many
analysts, is about to happen. Then there is Palestine and Gaza, and Syria.
Iran has donated 500,000 million dollars to Syria to purchase weapons from
Russia to use against Israel. How much is Iran spending on Hamas? There, Iran is
financing a kind of civil war against Fatah in order to dissect the PA out of
Western influences. Iran gave $250 million dollars to Hamas last week, and is
paying the salaries of 100,000 unemployed workers. If you calculate the salaries
of 100,000 unemployed workers at a rate of $1000 that will amount to something
like $100 million dollars per month. As we see in Iraq, the cost of sectarian
violence is devastating. If Palestine and Lebanon fall in the trap the Iranian
government has planned for them, they face the same fate the Iraqis are facing
now. The Iranian regime is manufacturing and financing each of these civil wars
in the Middle East. US May Have
Expected Israel to Attack Syria To Save Iraq
Dec. 19….(FOJ) The now oft described US quagmire in Iraq
was supposed to have received a helping hand this summer when Israel retaliated
against Hezbullah in Lebanon, or at least that is the idea some Middle East
strategists suggest. The theory is that America, having lost the momentum of its
sweep into Iraq, and failing to train an exile Iraqi government and Iraqi
military force, and then hand over the rule to them immediately, planned to
carry the war-on-terror into Syria, and thus isolate it from the Teheran Axis.
Apparently, the original Iraq plan called for sealing the borders of Iran and
Syria, keeping the Shia’s out of Iraq so that a thrust could then be made either
into Syria or Iran. Failing to accomplish that goal, and failing to get the
strategy beyond the design-table, Iraq became the mess it is today because of
political infighting, both in Washington and in Baghdad. Thus, the post-Iraq
strategy became intertwined with the Lebanon strategy against Hezbollah.
Washington apparently hoped that Israel would overwhelm Hezbollah, drawing Syria
into the war, and enable Israeli and US forces to squeeze Syria out of Lebanon,
and away from its alliance with Iran and Russia. (FOJ reported early on that
Syria and Russia conspired together to relocate the infamous disappearing Iraqi
weapons of mass destruction out of Iraq before the US invaded. He Bush
Administration allowed this fact to go unreported because it didn’t want to
alienate fellow Security Council member, Russia, and perhaps lose Russian
support in the war-on-terror.) Now the Bush Administration is faced with the
bi-partisan recommendations of the ISG, and the fact that Russia is heavily
involved in equipping Syria and aiding Iran. Two years ago the Bush
Administration was orchestrating a plan with Ariel Sharon to open up a backdoor
front against Syrian insurgents filtering into Iraq, by coordinating an
Israeli-led campaign against Lebanese Hezbollah and Syria. This scenario came
close to fruition this summer, but the US became very frustrated over the way in
which Israel embarked on the war against Hizbullah, and on the way it returned
from it. The perception in the UN and other capitols was that Hizbullah defeated
Israel in the summer war, and thus the geo-political pressure on President Bush
and the Defense Department became insurmountable. Internally, the US became
embarrassed and angry over the fact that Israel did not destroy Hezbollah nor
engage the Syrians. Instead of Israel fighting against Hizbullah, many parts of
the American Administration believed that Israel should have fought against the
real enemy, which is Syria and not Hizbullah. Privately, the Bush Administration
hoped Israel would open that front, as it would have served both the American
and Israeli interests in the overall Middle East scheme. The so-called neocons,
that the Democratic Party lambasted, were responsible for the fact that Israel
got a certain amount of time and space to defang the forces in the North. It
became an obvious strategy tactic that it was impossible to fight directly
against Iran, (because of Russian support) but the idea was that its strategic
and important ally should be hit, as it is difficult for Iran to export its
Shiite revolution without Syrian complicity. In the final outcome, Israel did
not do it. Instead of a strategic war that would serve Israel's objectives, as
well as the US objectives in Iraq, the rebellion in Iraq became all the more
worse, and the political pressure came back on the US to withdraw from Iraq.
Thus, today, we find many of our politicians traveling to Syria, and many more
signaling that we pow-wow with Iran!
West May be Too Late
to Save Weakened Abbas
Dec. 19….(IHT)
Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain dropped by Ramallah on Monday to show
his support for the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in his conflict with
the radical Islamic Hamas movement. Blair, like President Bill Clinton before
him, wants to push along the Middle East peace process before his retirement
from politics. Blair argued that the West must strengthen Abbas and support his
call for early presidential and parliamentary elections, because the West can
deal only with those who are prepared, unlike Hamas, to recognize Israel's right
to exist and accept a permanent two-state solution. But Abbas today is a weak
reed, with little power to implement his decrees or his will. Two years after
his election to the presidency, following the death of Yasser Arafat, Abbas is
perceived by a majority of Palestinians in opinion polls to be a great
disappointment, having brought little reform to Fatah or improvement to people's
lives while appearing to carry water for the Israelis and Americans. It may be
too late for Abbas, and for Fatah, to be bolstered very effectively, even by a
new US and British aid effort of the kind Blair seemed to foretell. On Saturday,
before a crowd of Fatah supporters at the Ramallah muqata, where a large mosque
and mausoleum are being built for Arafat, Abbas made great drama out of
announcing these early elections. But it seems unlikely they will be held. Abbas
is standing on shaky constitutional principles: It seems clear that he has no
legal right to dissolve Parliament without its consent, not that constitutional
principles are so holy here. But Abbas also lacks the power to implement what he
has decreed. Hamas has promised to boycott and disrupt legislative elections,
seeing them as an attempted coup. A Hamas boycott would make any form of voting
hollow. At the same time, Hamas would welcome the resignation of Abbas, which
would mean an early presidential election, letting the movement try to defeat
him and take full control of the Palestinian Authority. "He's declared
elections, but we all know that to implement them won't be easy," said Khaled
Duzdar, a Palestinian political analyst. "Without Hamas's acceptance they won't
happen." Palestinians, who have a deep aversion to civil war when they believe
the real opponent is the Israeli occupation, hope that Hamas and Fatah will come
to a political agreement and form a unity government based roughly on a
reconciliation document, already negotiated, that would allow their lives to
continue in some safety and even improve. Mouin Rabbani, a senior analyst with
the International Crisis Group, an independent research group on foreign policy,
argues against backing one Palestinian faction against another, and says that
progress will only be possible based on political consensus, even if the West
does not love the result. "The international community may have preferences, but
this practice of trying to make progress on the basis of divisions in the
Palestinian national movement has backfired spectacularly," he said. Yet even
Abbas's own, relatively moderate formula for a final peace settlement with
Israel is, by all accounts, unacceptable to this Israeli government, as it was
to the last one. On Monday, Abbas again called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of
Israel to enter peace talks with him. Olmert says he respects Abbas but does not
think that he can deliver. So Abbas's other main responsibility and path to
credibility, chief negotiator with Israel, has also proven to be hollow.
Progress on even small matters has been blocked since June, when Hamas captured
an Israeli soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit. Olmert has insisted that he will not
meet substantively with Abbas until Shalit is released. But by doing so, Olmert
has given Hamas a handy veto over any progress between Israel and the
Palestinians. Why should Hamas and its allies, Iran and Syria, which have no
interest in Israeli-Palestinian peace or in helping Abbas, let Shalit go?
Eventually, of course, they will. And when they choose to do so, in return for
more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners, it will be to suit the interests of
Hamas, and Hamas will use it to try to prove, once again, that Israel only
responds to Palestinian "resistance," not to the kind of nonviolence and patient
negotiation that the stubborn Abbas counsels so bravely and forlornly.
Bush Delays Move of US Embassy to Jerusalem, Again Dec.
19….(Jerusalem Post) President Bush has delayed for another six months
moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, citing national
security interests, the White House said Monday. Congress enacted
legislation in 1995 calling for the United States to move its embassy to
Jerusalem, but the president can postpone the move every six months due to
national security interests. The waiver has been used every six months since
the law was passed. Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle
East War and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally. Palestinians
want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, while Israel considers
the entire city as its "undivided and eternal capital." There are no embassies
in Jerusalem. El Salvador and Costa Rica were the last countries to transfer
their embassies to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem, announcing their decisions in
August. "My administration remains committed to beginning the process of moving
our embassy to Jerusalem," Bush said in a memorandum to the secretary of state
dated Dec. 15. "Moving our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem now would
complicate our ability to help Israelis and Palestinians advance toward peace
and the president's two-state vision," a White House official said on condition
of anonymity. Fatah to
Israel: ´Only Your Full Surrender Can Save Us´ Dec. 19….(Arutz)
(Abu Mazen’s declaration of early elections, seemingly a pressure tactic on
Hamas, is in fact an attempt to induce Israel to declare a full withdrawal to
the pre-1967 borders, including Jerusalem) Palestinian Authority Chairman
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) was set to meet Sunday with members of the Palestinian
Central Election Commission, signaling he is serious about calling a do-over on
the previous elections. Abbas’s Fatah movement, inherited from Yassir Arafat and
seen as selling out Palestinian interests for money, was trounced by the
revolutionary Jihadist Hamas movement in the January elections. Hamas officials
say Abbas, who holds the figurehead position of President of a country that has
yet to be declared, has no authority to call for new elections and say the move
is a call for civil war. Indeed clashes have erupted throughout PA-administered
areas between Fatah militias, trained by the US, and Hamas cells, trained and
funded by Iran. But behind the scenes, Fatah officials have begun pointing to
Israel and the US, blaming them for the PA's Arabs' affinity for Hamas's
no-compromise stance and leveraging the situation in an attempt to induce Israel
to cross its final red line, a full return to the pre-1967 borders and a return
of Arab refugees. The officials, quoted anonymously in a Yediot Acharonot
report, insisted: "The key is still in the Israelis' hands. Without a serious
diplomatic agreement, we will not be able to fight against Hamas." Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert says he refuses to allow Israel to be dragged into the
internal PA debate, though his government approved a transfer of arms to Abbas’s
forces in June. At the same time, reports from Damascus have Hamas chief
Khaled Mashaal forming a new PLO umbrella group with anti-Western Fatah chief
Farouk Kaddoumi, Abbas’s exiled rival for Fatah leadership and filling Yassir
Arafat’s shoes. Abbas’s emissaries say this is the last chance to bolster
the Fatah leader, who cannot set a date until the election commission informs
him how long it will take to prepare for the balloting. Abbas’s chief of staff,
former Arafat aide Saeb Erekat, said it would be impossible to hold the
elections before mid-2007 due to the bureaucratic process. In the meantime,
aides concede that Abbas’s elections move was not expected to have any effect
on its standing opposite Hamas unless Israel provides the mother of all
confidence-building measures: turning back the clock to 1947, before a Jewish
state was established in Israel. "The choice is a just solution based on the
'67 borders, or alternatively, a reality in which Israel finds itself with a
strong Hamas and a crushed Fatah,” the Fatah sources said. “Without a real
diplomatic solution, we will not be able to fight against Hamas, which will be
happy to claim that recognizing Israel did not get them anywhere." The demanded
withdrawal would mean the eviction and compensation of more than half a million
Jews from Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights and eastern Jerusalem, including the
Old City and the Temple Mount. It entails the removal of the billion-dollar
Partition Wall and the repatriation of not only the new Jewish refugees but the
literal return of all Arabs who left Israel in 1948 as well as their relatives.
The proposed plan fits perfectly with the PLO’s 1974 plan, commonly known as the
"Phased Plan," which was adopted at the 12th Session of the Palestinian National
Council in Cairo, June 9, 1974. It calls for the PLO to work toward attaining
statehood on parts of Israel while using those areas as bases for further
attacks until all-out war to destroy Israel becomes a possibility. Thus, the
67-Borders plan is back on the Table. Bolstered by the stance of the
recently-published US Baker-Hamilton Report that recommends a full Israeli
withdrawal for the sake of US strategy in Iraq, Israel’s Labor Party officials
have met in recent weeks with PA officials to pledge their allegiance to the
pre-1967 borders. The Saudi Initiative, introduced by American Jewish New York
Times columnist Thomas Friedman in 2002, lists the exact same demands for full
withdrawal and a return of Arab refugees and has been brought back to the
headlines recently by Baker-Hamilton and Israel’s own government, which
previously rejected it out of hand. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met the Saudis to
discuss it in recent weeks and Defense Minister Amir Peretz mentioned it
explicitly Sunday, saying it should be used “as a basis for negotiations between
Israel and the Palestinians.” Assad
Visits Moscow: (Iran Donates 500
Million Dollars) to Upgrade Syrian Army
Russian President Vladimir
Putin, listens to his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad during a
meeting in Moscow's Kremlin, Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir
Putin hosted his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad for talks focusing
on tensions among the Palestinians, Lebanon's political standoff and
the stalled Middle East peacemaking , part of Moscow's efforts to
bolster its role in the region.
Dec. 19….(DEBKA)
Syrian president Bashar Asad arrived in Moscow Monday night, Dec. 18, with
two items for his host, President Vladimir Putin: A shopping list for weapons
and half a billion dollars put up by Iran, in cash if needed, to purchase
Russian arms. In recent months, Tehran has been dispensing colossal sums to
its Middle East allies and pawns, mostly to stock up on war materiel and upgrade
their military strength. (The Palestinian Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya
alone was awarded quarter of a billion dollars for his war chest when he visited
Tehran last week.) Putin and Russian defense minister Sergey Lavrov received
Assad to wind up negotiations on the arms transaction. The groundwork is in
place. A week ago, a large Russian military delegation ended a 10-stay in
Damascus where its members studied Syria’s requests for Russian systems and
checked to see if they matched the requirements of the Syrian army. Damascus was
advised in advance that certain surface systems on request would available. But
the transaction would include sophisticated Tor-M1 systems, supplies of which
began reaching Iran last month, together with thousands of AT-14 anti-tank and
SA 5 Gammon anti-air missiles. Damascus also wants to commission Russian
military industry to upgrade all 4,500 of its outdated Soviet-era T-62, T-72 and
T-80 tanks. Israel’s head of research in AMAN-military intelligence, Brig-Gen
Yossi Baidetz was referring to this huge Russian-Syrian arms deal bankrolled by
Iran when he warned ministers Sunday Dec. 10, that Assad was preparing his army
for a summer war against Israel. However, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and
defense minister Amir Peretz preferred to keep the details of the transaction
dark and play down the Syrian threat, while refraining from taking Assad up on
his pressing demands for peace talks. According to DEBKAfile’s military
experts, Assad’s generals have drawn fully on the lessons of Hizballah’s war
against Israel in July and August and made fitting adjustments. The Syrian army
is in the process of being rearmed with large quantities of anti-tank rockets
and tactical changes have been introduced in the armed forces 12 divisions.
Before the Lebanon war, only one company in every Syrian brigade was equipped
with anti-tank rockets and anti-air shoulder-borne missiles. Since then,
thousands of these missiles are being distributed to every Syrian unit. Our
military sources report that all five Syrian divisions stationed on the Golan
frontier with Israel have been issued with these anti-tank and anti-air rockets.
The Kornet or AT-14 anti-tank rocket is wire-guided to hit targets with high
precision at a distance of up to 3.5 kilometers as the crow flies. It can pierce
1,100-1,200 mm of armor. In the Lebanon war, Hizballah deployed the Kornet
delivered by the Syrian army with great effectiveness against the Israeli
Chariot tanks, inflicting a high level of casualties. Moscow has strenuously
denied letting the Kornet missiles sold to Syria reach Hizballah’s hands.
Officials there refused to admit that the rockets which struck Israel tanks in
the war were Russian made, even after an Israeli military delegation headed by
Ilan Mizrahi, director of the national security council brought to Moscow
exhibits of Kornet missile parts collected from the battlefield and photographs
in support Israel’s complaint. The Americans had their
first experience of the Russian Kornet in Iraq in 2003 when it knocked US Abrams
M1 tanks out of action. They are now widely used by Iraq’s Sunni i Saudi Study
Says Iran Creating Shi'ite 'State Within State' in Iraq Dec. 18….(Ha
Aretz) Iran has
effectively created a Shi'ite "state within a state" in Iraq providing both
logistical support of armed groups and funds for social programs, The Washington
Times reported on Monday citing a security report commissioned by the Saudi
government. The 40-page report says Iranian military forces are providing
Shi'ite militias with weapons and training and that Tehran is actively
supporting pro-Iranian Iraqi politicians, the newspaper said. "Where the
Americans have failed, the Iranians have stepped in," it said, quoting the
report. The findings were submitted to the Saudi government in March but have
not been publicly distributed, The Washington Times said. The report described
the Badr organization, the armed wing of the biggest party in Iraq's government
SCIRI, as the "key vehicle Iran is using to achieve its military security and
intelligence aims," the newspaper said. In details on the Sunni insurgency, the
report cites Iraqi tribal leaders as saying that it is run mainly by former
commanders and high level-military officers of the dismantled Iraqi Ba'athist
government. The assessment concludes that, given historical ties, "Saudi Arabia
has a special responsibility to ensure the continue welfare and security of
Sunnis in Iraq," the Times reported. It recommends that the Saudi government
prepare a strategy to deal with the worst-case scenario of full-blown civil war
and to share the report with the United States, the article said. The study was
compiled by the Saudi National Security Assessment Project, a group commissioned
to provide security and intelligence assessments to the Saudi government, the
newspaper said. The article said the report was directed by Nawaf Obaid, who
recently was fired after writing an opinion piece in The Washington Post that
suggested the Saudi kingdom would back Iraq's Muslim Sunnis in the event of a
wider sectarian conflict.
Blair Meets
With Abbas: The Next Weeks Are Critical
Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, left,
flashes the V-sign as Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan looks on after
their meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at his office
in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Blair on Monday praised Mahmoud
Abbas' call for new Palestinian elections and urged the
international community to mobilize in support of the Palestinian
president. Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday he is pushing ahead with early elections,
despite factional fighting that intensified after his initial call for a poll,
and appealed for international help in restarting peace talks with Israel. Abbas
said he is ready to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert anytime. "We
need each other," he said, adopting a much warmer tone than in the past. Abbas
hopes a peace breakthrough with Israel can persuade his people to support him in
a showdown with Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls parliament and
the Cabinet. Abbas said Saturday he is seeking new presidential and
parliamentary elections to end months of deadlock with Hamas, whose refusal to
moderate has isolated the Palestinians internationally and driven them deeper
into an economic crisis. Hamas has accused Abbas of trying to illegally topple
its government, and already raging fighting between Hamas and Abbas-allied
security forces in Gaza worsened after Abbas' announcement. Hamas spokesman
Ismail Radwan said Abbas' insistence on holding elections amounted to a "coup
against sovereignty and democracy."
Mossad Chief: Syria Not Moving Toward
Peace, But to War Dec. 18….(YNET)
Mossad Chief Meir Dagan said Monday in his briefing of the Knesset Defense
and Foreign Affairs Committee, "There is no indication at the moment of
actualization of Syrian positions or that the country is moving toward peace."
According to him, Syria is
arming itself and Hizbulah at a rapid pace, is trying to topple Siniora's
government, and is undermining American presence in Iraq. "Hizbullah is still in
southern Lebanon, hasn't disarmed, is in agreement with the Lebanese army about
its presence in southern Leabnon, and there are places that the Lebanese army
cannot enter. Hizbullah is unabatedly being armed with missiles, some of which
they have installed north of the Litani. Hizbullah is using all its strength to
nullify Resolution 1701." The conditions for opening a dialogue with Damascus
are clear to the Syrians . They have already been conveyed to the by Colin
Powell during the term of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "Unfortunately, the
Syrians are not even implementing the minimal steps they could implement. In
such a situation, there is no reason in the world for Israel to hold a dialogue
or negotiations with the Syrians, and certainly not against the position of (US
President) George Bush, Israel's greatest friend," said the official. Mossad
Chief Meir Dagan added that a strategic change is in effect in Syria, and it
will now respond to any Israeli provocation. "Israel's military deterrence was
damaged in the war. Therefore, Assad's self-confidence grew. They are prepared
to take more steps toward war than in the past,"
Hamas Threatens to Resume Suicide
Bombings (Terror
group warns if government toppled, 'all options open') Dec. 18….(WND)
Hamas is debating whether to resume suicide bombings inside the Jewish state and
may allow its so-called military wing to openly engage in anti-Israeli attacks
if Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is aided in his calls for new
Palestinian elections, Hamas members told WND. "If the Israelis or the Americans
and international community interferes in Palestinian affairs and encourages Abu
Mazen (Abbas) to go on with elections, this will lead to internal Palestinian
clashes, but the fighting will not just remain internal," said Abu Abdullah, who
is considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' Izzedine
al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' declared "resistance" department. Abu
Abdullah warned if the Hamas government falters the terror group "will use all
tools it has, including coming back to suicide attacks inside Israel." Abbas
this weekend called for new Palestinian elections in a move widely scene as an
attempt to dismantle the Hamas-led PA. Hamas has said it would boycott any new
ballots. As Palestinian president, Abbas has the authority to abolish the PA and
order new elections held. Hamas won a majority of Palestinian parliamentary
seats in elections earlier this year. Since his call for new ballots, Hamas and
militants from Abbas' Fatah faction have been engaging in heavy fighting.
Yesterday, the convoy of Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar came under fire
as it passed through Gaza City. Members of Hamas accused Fatah of trying to
assassinate al-Zahar. Hours later, Hamas assaulted a Force 17 base in the Gaza
Strip just outside Abbas' office and Gaza residence. Abbas was in the West Bank
at the time. A presidential guard official denounced the Hamas attack as an
assault on the "symbol of Palestinian legitimacy." Hamas members also reportedly
opened fire at a major political rally in Gaza last night held in support of
Fatah. Three people were wounded at the gathering, Palestinian security
officials said. An estimated 100,000 Fatah supporters participated in the rally.
Hamas sources told WND the terror group is debating whether to publicly
reintroduce its "military wing" and carry out attacks against Israel. "It is
only a matter of a political decision before we restart attacks and put our
military wing into effect," said a top Hamas source. The last Hamas suicide
bombing inside Israel took place in 2004. In November, a Palestinian woman
attempted a suicide attack on behalf of Hamas against Israeli troops in the Gaza
Strip. The woman blew herself up prematurely after being identified by Israeli
soldiers. Hamas largely has refrained from openly carrying out attacks against
Israel since it took over the Palestinian government, although the terror group
took part in the raid of an Israeli military station in June in which Israeli
soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped. Israeli security officials say Hamas members
have participated in rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip aimed at nearby Jewish
cities. Also, Israel says Hamas facilitates attacks by the Popular Resistance
Committees, an umbrella of terror organizations operating in Gaza. Still, Hamas'
"military wing" has reportedly been active. Abu Abdullah previously told WND
Hamas has been preparing in the Gaza Strip for attacks against Israel. "In the
last fifteen months, even though the fighters of Hamas kept the cease-fire, we
did not stop making important advancements and professional training on the
military level. In the future, after Hamas is obliged to stop the cease-fire,
the world shall see our new military capabilities," Abu Abdullah said. WEEK OF
DECEMBER 11 THROUGH DECEMBER 17 Hamas:
Abbas Has Declared War on Allah Dec. 15….(AP)
Chairman of the Hamas faction in parliament Khalil al-Haya, told a crowd of
tens of thousands at a Hamas rally in Gaza Friday that "Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas has declared war on Allah and on the will of the Palestinian
people." "We warn before it's too late that we shall strike with an iron fist
all those involved in hurting our leaders and members, and those responsible for
the attempt to assassinate the prime minister," he added. Al-Haya accused the
members of the Presidential Guard of launching the attack against Haniyeh, and
referred to Abbas' anticipated speech Saturday: "We will fight with force for
the voter's choice against those who want to bring about a coup." Abbas' speech
has caused much turmoil in the PA, as the president is expected to announce the
dismissal of the government, and holding a referendum or early elections. During
the rally, Hamas speakers said that any proposal promoted by Abbas will be met
with opposition.
“North American Union” Leader says
Merger Just A Crisis Away
Leading
intellectual force behind effort toward EU-style unity looks at future
Dec. 15….(WND)
Robert Pastor, a leading intellectual force in the move to create an EU-style
North American Community, told WND he believes a new 9/11 crisis could be the
catalyst to merge the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Pastor, a professor at American
University, says that in such a case the Security and Prosperity Partnership of
North America, or SPP, launched in 2005 by the heads of the three countries at a
summit in Waco, Texas, could be developed into a continental union, complete
with a new currency, the Amero, that would replace the US dollar just as
the euro has replaced the national currencies of Europe. Pastor believes that
another national crises can force decisions that otherwise would not be made.
"The 9/11 crisis made Canada and the United States redefine the protection of
their borders," Pastor explained. "The debt crisis in Mexico forced the
government to adapt a new economic model. The crises oblige the governments to
make difficult decisions." This was the first time WND had found a major
intellectual leader behind the push to integrate North America suggesting that a
crisis of 9-11 proportions might be just what was needed to advance the process
toward establishing a North American Union and the Amero. Pastor was careful to
distinguish that his proposals were designed to create a North American
Community and that he never has proposed to create a North American Union
as an EU-style regional government. Pastor affirmed he favors globalism. I
believe," he explained to WND, "that globalization is a net plus for the world
economy, for the middle class, and for all people."
Jimmy Carter: Anti-Semitic Scum Dec. 15….(By
Melanie Morgan) When the nuclear-obsessed North Korean government got angry
about the pro-American antics of John Bolton, they threw a temper tantrum during
which they called Mr. Bolton "human scum." The derisive remark about Bolton was
way off the mark; John Bolton has been one of the world's greatest champions for
freedom and liberty. In this world of zany dictators, murderous tyrants and
terrorists, we could hold a pageant to search for the best contenders for who
should wear the banner representing "human scum." But Jimmy Carter beats them
out and deserves to have the crown all to himself. This week saw new charges of
lying, plagiarism and anti-Semitism directed toward Carter for a new book he's
authored. These latest missteps reinforced what many of us have long known:
Jimmy Carter is a bitter man who has recklessly celebrated tyranny, given cover
to our enemies and undermined the forces of liberty. No other prominent American
has so often pursued appeasement and kinder treatment of the agents of evil: the
communist Soviet bloc, the crack-pot communist regime in North Korea, the
murderous communist regime in Cuba, Islamic radicals in Iran, Palestinian
suicide sponsors, Islamic terrorist groups in the Middle East and Hugo Chavez's
Marxist regime in Venezuela to name a few. Not once has Carter's "be kind to the
murderous forces of tyranny" approach brought about peace or harmony for the
world's people. Instead he has undermined the standing of free nations in their
efforts to spread the light of freedom and democracy throughout the world. In
Carter's new book, "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid," he compares the
Israeli government to the internationally condemned system of apartheid in South
Africa. In doing so, Carter makes it clear that when it comes to the
democratically elected government in Jerusalem versus the forces of Islamic
terrorism, he is sympathetic to the side of the terrorists. Since leaving
office, Carter has repeatedly spoken out against the peaceful people of Israel
and instead befriended the PLO terrorist leader Yasser Arafat, while working to
pressure Israel to give more land away to the terrorists. During the elections
in the Palestinian territories, Jimmy Carter went so far as to travel to the
region to validate the election of the terrorist group Hamas to head the
government there. He went on to beg the international community to give millions
of dollars in cash to Hamas, providing hollow assurances to the world that any
money received wouldn't be used to fund the group's paramilitary and terrorist
programs. We've gotten such bogus promises before from Jimmy Carter when he
promised us his special deal with the North Korean communist regime would mean a
nuclear-free North Korea. Carter seems convinced that America is an "evil
empire" and not the "shining city on a hill" that Ronald Reagan saw 26
years ago when he defeated Carter for President. Has One
World Order Group Taken Control Of US Foreign Policy? Dec. 15….(Bill
Wilson, KIN) The globalist Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) may now be in
full control of American foreign policy as its members are shaping policy and
events that impact the international stage. During his Senate confirmation
hearing, Robert Gates, the Bush Administration’s nominee for Secretary of
Defense and a member of the CFR, for the first time broke a longstanding 40 year
agreement of ambiguity between Israel and the United States by confirming Israel
had nuclear weapons. In addition, Gates said that no one can promise that Iran
will not use nuclear weapons against Israel, a statement interpreted by many as
indicating the United States would sit on the sidelines rather than protect
Israel. The second coup de tat of the CFR is the Iraq Study Group Report. Hailed
by liberals and terrorists as a long-awaited “I told you so,” the report called
for negotiations with terrorist sponsors Syria and Iran and the tying together
of the Palestinian issue with the Iraq war. The report left the strong
impression that Israel was at the center of the entire Middle East unrest and
that America should be negotiating with Israel’s enemies rather than supporting
Israel. The leaders of the Iraq Study Group, James Baker and Lee Hamilton, are
both members of the CFR. Baker has gone so far as suggesting a Middle East peace
negotiation in Madrid, Spain with Arab enemies of Israel, without Israel’s
participation. Meantime, President Bush appears to be backing away from the
suggestions of the Iraq Study Group to have direct talks with Syria and Iran. He
has said that there will be no discussions with Iran until it stops its nuclear
enrichment nor with Syria until it stops trying to overthrow the government in
Lebanon. But key Council on Foreign Relations members in policy-driving
positions may overtake the President’s opposition as they continue to shape
events. For example, CFR member and long time advisor to presidents, Brent
Scowcroft reportedly emerged as a mover and shaker behind the Iraq Study Group
report. He is a mentor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, also a member of
the CFR. Perspective: CFR’s expert on Israeli-Palestinian relations, Henry
Siegman was quoted as saying, “if you really want to stop the violence and get a
peace agreement and put the parties on a road toward a peace process, no one
except Hamas can deliver.” These people believe that the terrorist organizations
who have said Israel should not exist and are arming against Israel each day
should be trusted to bring peace to the region. With these people shaping
foreign policy, the only sure bet is appeasement and war. Jeremiah 8:15 says,
“We looked for peace, but no good came.” Seek Christ that you are not deceived.
EU Charges Iran with Destabilizing
Middle East Dec. 15….(YNET)
The European Union accused Iran on Friday of
destabilizing the Middle East with its nuclear program and threats towards
Israel, in a significant hardening of the 25-nation bloc's tone towards Tehran.
A tough statement drafted for adoption by EU leaders at a summit also condemned
Iran's questioning of the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews. "The European Council
expresses its concern about the negative impact of Iranian policies on stability
and security in the Middle East," The draft statement said. "The European
Council deplores Iran's failure to take the steps required by the International
Atomic Energy Agency board of governors and the UN Security Council, and agrees
that this could only have negative consequences for relations between the EU and
Iran," the draft said. It said the EU "expresses deep concern at the Iranian
government's recent statements concerning the EU and individual member states,
as well as its threats towards Israel and the continuing deterioration of human
rights and political freedoms of its citizens". Tehran cancelled a regular
meeting of the EU-Iran human rights dialogue due this month. Referring to this
week's international gathering in Tehran questioning the Holocaust, the draft
said: "The EU condemns any denial of the Holocaust as a historical fact, either
in whole or in part, and therefore firmly rejects the underlying premise and the
objectives of the conference." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who
has stirred an international outcry by referring to Nazi Germany's killing of 6
million Jews in World War Two as a "myth", told delegates at the conference that
Israel's days were numbered. Hamas and
Fatah Battling
Fatah
Attempts Killing of Hamas PM Haniyeh Dec. 15….(Arutz)
Hamas leader Haniyeh has vowed revenge for a shooting attack on his entourage,
which occurred when he returned from his first trip abroad as PA Prime Minister.
His personal bodyguard was killed and his son took a bullet to the shoulder, one
of 30 people wounded in the crossfire between Hamas gunmen and forces loyal to
PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction. "We know the party that shot
directly at our cars, injuring some of the people with me,” Haniyeh said. “And
we also know how to deal with this." Friday Hamas began deploying the armed
groups under its control throughout Gaza, preparing for clashes with Fatah. PA
police in Ramallah declared the center of the PA-controlled town a closed
military zone after Hamas and Fatah's Al-Aqsa Brigades declared their intentions
of following Friday prayers with armed marches through the center. Security
forces are out in force and businesses are closed in anticipation of clashes
between the groups. Earlier Thursday, Hamas-controlled terrorists took over the
Gaza-Egypt border in a pitched gun battle with the Fatah-loyal PA police
stationed there, after they prevented Haniyeh from smuggling a large amount of
cash in with him upon his return from Egypt. European Union observers were
whisked to safety, and refused to return, maintaining a closure on the Rafah
crossing. Meanwhile, Hamas terrorists detonated explosives, blowing yet another
hole in the already porous border with the Sinai. Fatah-loyal PA police arrested
a Hamas man they say is responsible for the execution of the three children of a
Fatah intelligence chief. On Wednesday two Hamas men were wounded when a Fatah
terrorist threw a hand-grenade into a crowd of Hamas men parading through Gaza’s
Neseirat slums. Earlier that day a judge affiliated with Hamas was gunned down.
PA sources are talking about the possibility of full-blown civil war following
Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas’s much-hyped statement to be delivered Saturday in
which he is expected to dissolve the government and call new elections in an
attempt to turn back the clock on the Hamas victory that marginalized Yassir
Arafat’s Fatah movement. Assad: No
Middle EastPeace Without Damascus and Tehran
Dec. 15….(Ha Aretz) The United States and
Europe must talk to Syria and Iran if they want a comprehensive solution to Iraq
and other Middle East conflicts, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an
interview published on Friday. Assad told Rome's la Repubblica newspaper
Damascus was ready to cooperate with Washington to resolve regional issues and
challenged Israel to open up to Syria. He also said Europe had a "complex" over
the Jewish Holocaust. "The fact is that we (Syrians) live in this region, we
know it well," he said in the long interview, adding that Washington "needs our
help" to formulate a plan for Iraq.
Asked if he was ready to work constructively with Washington, he
said, "Certainly we are ready to do so. Because if you don't resolve regional
questions, Iraq, Lebanon, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it will be we
bordering countries that will pay the highest price." Syria had "excellent
relations" with many factions in Iraq and could support a national conference on
the future of the country, he said. Assad also said the United States and Europe
"must talk to Tehran." A report released last week in Washington by a special
panel recommended the United States engage Syria and Iran to bring about
stability in Iraq. The White House has so far rejected such contacts and
President George W. Bush renewed his criticism of Damascus on Wednesday,
accusing Syria of human rights abuses and of trying to undermine Lebanese
sovereignty. Assad said the Iraq Study Group report vindicated Syria's
position that it had to be listened to. Assad said Israel should also take
up Syria's offer to hold talks. "I say to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert:
'Take a chance. Discover if we are bluffing or not.'" Israel is firmly opposed
to talks with Syria, saying Damascus needs first to cut its links to the
anti-Israeli militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Syria wants talks to recover
the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967. Asked about this week's
conference sponsored by Iran questioning the Holocaust, Assad said: "Listen,
Europe has a complex about the Holocaust. We don't because we didn't do it.
However, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has rejected a bipartisan
panel's recommendation that the Bush administration engage Syria and Iran in
efforts to stabilize Iraq, The Washington Post reported on Friday. The
"compensation" required for any such deal might be too high, Rice told the paper
in an interview. Rice said she did not want to trade away Lebanese sovereignty
to Syria or allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon as a price for peace in Iraq,
the Post reported. She also argued that neither Syria nor Iran should need
incentives to help achieve stability in Iraq, the Post reported. "If they have
an interest in a stable Iraq, they will do it anyway," Rice said. Rice told The
Washington Post that Bush could be "quite expansive" in the policy review and
that the new plan would be a "departure." However, she told the newspaper that
Bush would not radically change any of his long-term goals or commitment to
Iraq. Rice also said the administration would not retreat from its push to
promote democracy in the Middle East and reiterated her commitment to pursuing
peace between Palestinians and Israelis, the Post said. "Get ready. We are going
to the Middle East a lot," Rice said. EU Wants a
Middle East Free of WMDs Dec. 15….(AP)
The
European Union called Thursday for a Middle East free of weapons of mass
destruction, responding to recent comments by the Israeli prime minister
that have been interpreted as acknowledging his country has a nuclear arsenal.
In interview with a Germany television station broadcast Monday, Ehud Olmert
appeared to list Israel among the world's nuclear powers. The next day, however,
he denied having "outed" his country's nuclear program. Although Israel is
widely assumed to have nuclear weapons, it has maintained a policy of ambiguity
since the 1960s, refusing to confirm or deny it. "The position of the European
Union is very clear," said EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. "In the long
term, we don't want to have the Middle East with weapons of mass destruction."
Olmert's remarks came when the interviewer asked him about Iran's calls for the
destruction of Israel. "Iran openly, explicitly and publicly threatens to wipe
Israel off the map," Olmert said. "Can you say that this is the same level, when
you are aspiring to have nuclear weapons, as America, France, Israel, Russia?"
The next day, Olmert insisted that Israel "will not be the first country that
introduces nuclear weapons to the Middle East." Solana has been the UN Security
Council's point man in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. The
Islamic country says its program is meant only to generate power, but the US,
its European allies and Israel fear Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
The Security Council could vote next week on whether to impose sanctions on Iran
for refusing to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can generate power or
create the fissile core of nuclear warheads. At a summit Thursday, 25 EU foreign
ministers urged Syria to play a constructive role in Middle East peace efforts
and encouraged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to keep up efforts to form a
coalition government between his Fatah party and the Islamic militant Hamas.
Factional violence between Fatah and Hamas has pushed the rivals closer to civil
war. The End of
Pax Americana (FOJ Note:
This excerpt from a recent Newsweek article is worth reading. It highlights the
fact that America’s retreat from Iraq, and seeming inevitable capitulation to
the advancement of an overall Middle East peace process that compromises
Israel’s Promised Land will have repercussions on America’s leadership position
in the world. That lofty fall may be just the geo-political bonanza that could
result in the elevation of the Ten Kings that will soon exalt the Antichrist.)
Dec.
14….(Newsweek) With hindsight, we may see 2006 as the end of Pax Americana.
Ever since World War II, the United States has used its military and economic
superiority to promote a stable world order that has, on the whole, kept the
peace and spread prosperity. But the United States increasingly lacks both the
power and the will to play this role. It isn't just Iraq, though Iraq has been
profoundly destabilizing and demoralizing. Many other factors erode US power:
China's rise; probable nuclear proliferation; shrinking support for open trade;
higher spending for Social Security and Medicare that squeezes the military, and
the weakness of traditional US allies, Europe and Japan. By objective measures,
Pax Americana's legacy is enormous. Since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, no nuclear
device has been used in anger. Under the US military umbrella, democracy
flourished in Western Europe and Japan. It later spread to South Korea, Eastern
Europe and elsewhere. In 1977, there were 89 autocratic regimes in the world and
only 35 democracies, the center estimates. In 2005, there were 88 democracies
and 29 autocracies. Prosperity has been unprecedented. Historian Angus Maddison
tells us that from 1950 to 1998 the world economy expanded by a factor of six.
Global trade increased 20 times. These growth rates were well beyond historic
experience. Living standards exploded. Since 1950, average incomes have
multiplied about 16 times in South Korea, 11 times in Japan and six times in
Spain, reports Maddison. From higher bases, the increases were nearly five times
in Germany, four in France and three in the United States. It is fatuous to
think all this would have occurred spontaneously. Since the Marshall Plan,
the United States has been a stabilizing influence, albeit with lapses (the
Vietnam War, the 1970s inflation, now Iraq). Aside from security, it provided
a global currency, the dollar. To Americans, the lesson of World War II was
that, to prevent a repetition, the United States had to promote global
stability. It had to accept short-term costs and burdens to avoid larger
long-term costs and burdens. But the triumphalism following the cold war fed
overconfidence. Pax Americana was thought to be able to continue forever. It was
"the end of history,' democracy and free markets would spread. The United States
was a "hyperpower.'' The flaw in all this theorizing was to mistake strength for
power. Statistically, the United States remains the world's strongest nation.
Its economy is the wealthiest, triple the size of Japan's. Its all-volunteer
military is the best trained and most technologically advanced. "No other state
is building nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, stealth fighters or unmanned
aerial vehicles,'' writes Max Boot, author of "War Made New.'' The United States
has 12 carriers; Britain, the runner-up, has three smaller carriers. The trouble
is that strength, measurable and impressive, does not translate directly into
power. Power is the ability to get others to do what you want. Here, America is
weaker. Iraq has reminded us that religious and ethnic loyalties dim the
appeal of democracy, freedom and materialism. Militarily, "asymmetrical
threats'' often neutralize conventional advantages, as Boot notes. Iraq has
confirmed that, too. If Iran and North Korea become permanent nuclear powers,
the US military edge will decline further. Any action against either country
would be tempered by the possibility of a nuclear exchange. Worse, other
regional powers (Japan, South Korea, Egypt, Saudi Arabia) may decide to go
nuclear to have deterrence. A black market in atomic technology would almost
inevitably follow, increasing the odds of terrorists acquiring a bomb. The end
of the cold war probably reduced, not increased, American power. Without the
Soviet threat, Europe and Japan felt less reason to follow US leadership.
China's emergence is altering the world balance. America won't retire from the
world stage, but how active it will be is unclear. Iraq has reduced national
confidence and credibility. Given the rampant anti-Americanism abroad today, the
fading of Pax Americana may inspire much glee. No one can know what will replace
Pax Americana, but with time, the people who now celebrate its decline may
conclude that its failures were mainly those of good intentions and that its
successes were unwisely taken for granted. Israel
Worried Hamas and Iran Developing Strategic Relations Dec. 14….(Ha
Aretz) Members of
the Israeli defense establishment are concerned by the close ties that seem to
be developing between Iran and Hamas. In response to Palestinian Prime Minister
Ismail Haniyeh's recent visit to Tehran, experts here have said Iran is seeking
to form a strategic alliance with Hamas. According to these sources, the
Iranians would like to develop a relationship with Hamas similar to that with
Hezbollah in Lebanon, in which the "final word," on matters regarding Israel,
too, is Tehran's. In Israel, experts are interpreting Hamas' move toward Iran as
an act of defiance, in part based on the group's success in minimizing the
damage caused by the international embargo on its Palestinian Authority
government. During his visit to Tehran last week, Haniyeh said Iran constitutes
"strategic depth" for the Palestinians. He also stressed that his organization
would never recognize Israel. This is the first time the Hamas leadership has
publicly adopted such a view on Iran, a position directly opposed to that of
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who regards moderate Arab states
such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan as the Palestinians' natural allies.
Abbas' Fatah is also very interested in building ties with the United States and
the European Union. On Wednesday, Haniyeh cut short his visit to Sudan and
returned to the Gaza Strip in light of the growing tension between Hamas and
Fatah. One of his aides said Haniyeh rushed back to assist in resolving domestic
problems. The close ties between the Hamas-led government and Tehran are also
manifesting themselves in the links between the Iranian leadership and the
group's political bureau, based in Damascus and headed by Khaled Meshal. Iran is
actively contributing funds to boost these ties, and recently committed $250
million, which unlike previous grants will constitute a regular transfer to
cover various PA expenses. The Iranian funding will be used in part to pay wages
for civil servants and members of security forces affiliated with Hamas, as well
as to construct camps for the security forces and to compensate Palestinian
families that lost their homes in Israel Defense Forces operations. "These gifts
are not free," Israeli security sources told Haaretz. "The Iranians are
expecting returns: a rise in influence among the Palestinians and Hamas
compliance to their orders." In the past, in part because Hamas, a radical Sunni
Islamic organization, was wary of Shi'ite Iran, senior group officials were
careful not to stress close ties overtly with Tehran. Haniyeh's visit to Iran
was closely monitored by Israel, as were the various statements by senior Hamas
officials. The impression among various security officials is that Hamas has
gained confidence in recent weeks, in part because of developments including
Israel's decision to accept a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. While the cease-fire
appears to be holding, even though five Qassam rockets were launched at the
western Negev on Tuesday, Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered the IDF to
continue preparations for a major ground operation in the Gaza Strip if
necessary. Defense establishment assessments do not exclude the possibility of
Iran pressuring Hamas to renew terrorist activities. At this stage, IDF sources
say, Hamas has been successful in maintaining the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip,
and is keeping its word like Fatah did in the past. Regarding the launching of
rockets, the sources say that other militant organizations are to blame,
including Fatah and Islamic Jihad. However, most of the time the calm has been
kept. Hamas' military wing is exhibiting discipline and is following
instructions from its leadership to avoid violence against Israel. In addition
to Iran's commitment to transfer funds to Hamas, the group was also promised aid
from Arab states, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The Palestinian
government under Hamas is exhibiting stability even though it has been under
pressure from the Quartet to accept preconditions, such as recognizing Israel,
in return for financial assistance. On the military front, Hamas is continuing
with efforts to expand its arsenal, and its security organizations have been
recruiting deserters from Fatah-affiliated groups. The group has also extended
the range of its Qassam rockets from their usual 10-12 kilometers, and improved
the quality of explosives being used in its warheads. Both Hamas in the
Palestinian Authority and the exiled leadership in Damascus believe the Israeli
government is weak, and attribute Israel's willingness to agree to a cease-fire
in the Gaza Strip as a manifestation of this. Hamas' apparent growing confidence
may be one of the reasons Meshal has toughened his stance in the negotiations
for the release of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Meshal went as far as to
warn recently that if the condition of Palestinians in Gaza did not improve,
Hamas would renew violent operations against Israel within six months. However,
Hamas' real concern is the threat posed not by Israel, but by the looming
instability caused by the power struggle with Fatah and the growing fears of an
imminent civil war.
Ahmadinejad, Neturei Karta: Zionists
are Criminals
(After
Holocaust denial conference, warm meeting takes place between Iranian president,
ultra-Orthodox representatives in his office. At end of meeting, he calls on
representatives of three religions 'to build united front against Zionists.'
Meanwhile, Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger calls on world rabbis to boycott Neturei
Karta members who took part in Tehran conference) Dec. 14….(Arutz)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met Thursday with Neturei Karta
representatives who arrived at the Holocaust denial conference held in Tehran
this week. The rabbis who took part in the meeting thanked the president for
his "courageous stance against the Zionist regime's crimes" and thanked him for
his support of the Jews. They told him that they "disagree with the Zionists'
crimes in occupied Palestine." They also said that "the Jews' massacre in World
War II served as an excuse for the Zionists and their supporters to establish
the State of Israel." In photos taken by AFP, the Iranian president is seen
shaking their hands and talking to some of them. In the Tehran conference,
different "experts" expressed their doubts that the Holocaust took place. In a
statement issued by the Iranian president's office at the end of the meeting,
Ahmadinejad called on religious figures, scientists and researchers from the
three religions to "establish a united front against the Zionists in order to
prevent crimes against humanity."
Iranian president with Neturei Karta in his office
According to a report by the Iranian news agency IRNA, the
Iranian president called on world powers and on the Zionists "to remove the fake
Zionist regime as they established it, or to hold a referendum in order to
determine the type of regime the Palestinians prefer, with the participation of
all Palestinians, including Jews, Christians and Muslims." The Iranian
president distinguished between the Zionists and the Jews, saying that "those
who understand and seek justice will not be listed among the Jews responsible
for the crimes of the Zionist regime in occupied Palestine, including the
killing of defenseless women and children."
According to the report, during the meeting the participants "also discussed
ways to solve the Palestinian issue through a dialogue."
Israel's Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger on
Wednesday night called on world rabbi’s to reject Neturei Karta members who
participated in the Holocaust denial conference in Iran, saying they “sabotaged
Israel” and should not be allowed entrance to Temples. “They betrayed the Jewish
people and their heritage and particularly disgraced the Shoah and desecrated
its memory. They tried to stain the Jewish people, who shy away from this low
behavior, with their shameful behavior,” Metzger said. According to Jewish law,
only a court with a panel of at least three rabbinical judges has the power to
start a boycott. Rabbi Metzger’s spokesman Arik Eliovitz told Ynet that the
rabbi had “made the call on his own with out other rabbis”. Israel Hirsch, a
member of Neturei Karta living in the Meah Shaarim neighborhood of Jerusalem,
who attended the conference explained, "The haredim who attended the conference
for investigating the Holocaust in Iran share a common platform with Ahmadinejad
when it comes to the so-called myth the Zionist movement created around the
Holocaust. "They wanted to make it clear in Tehran that Zionism uses the
Holocaust as an excuse for the existence of the Zionist state in the Land of
Israel," he said. Hirsch continued, "Because the UN agreed to establish a state
because of the Holocaust, the Iranians are claiming something very logical. They
aren't saying that there wasn't a Holocaust, but who perpetrated the Holocaust?
The Nazis, the Germans. So they should at least pay compensation to the Jewish
nation and establish a Jewish state within Germany and not within the land of
Israel, which belongs to the Palestinians." Israel’s former chief rabbi, current
Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau did not buy the explanations of the Jews
who attended the conference. “It is something completely insane. If it’s
possible that there is any Jew, who for some reason or another can support a
Holocaust denier in a generation where people with numbers tattooed on their
arms are still among us, it’s an insanity that has no justification and no
explanation,” he concluded.
FOJ Note:
The President of Iran, being a proponent of the 12th Imam, and the
Orthodox Jews are both anticipating the Messiah. Perhaps they are looking for
the same individual. United
States True deficit: $3.5 trillion (Analyst says
coming Treasury report will document 'unsustainable' pace) Dec. 14….(WND)
A report scheduled to be released by the Treasury Department tomorrow is
expected to show the true deficit in the Bush administration's 2006 federal
budget to be an astounding $3.5 trillion in the red, not $248.2 billion as
previously reported. "The Bush administration is running a federal budget
deficit at an unsustainable, system-dooming pace of about $3.5 trillion a year,
econometrician John Williams, who publishes the website Shadow Government
Statistics, told WND. Williams' argument is fully validated in the Financial
Report of the United States, a little-known report Congress has mandated that
the Treasury Department publishes each year, reporting the federal budget on a
GAAP accounting basis, not on a cash accrual basis. The 2006 edition of the
Financial Report of the United States is due out tomorrow. "Typically, the
Treasury reports the budget deficit on current accounts basis. That's why
Treasury announced recently that the 2006 federal budget deficit was going to be
$248.2 billion. But it is a gimmick," Williams claimed. "When we see the
Treasury report on Friday we are probably going to find out that the real 2006
federal budget deficit is more like $3.5 trillion." Williams predicts, however,
the mainstream media won't report it. "It's not the type of news Reuters,
Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal like to broadcast to investors and the
American public," he said. "Besides, the financial press won't take the time and
effort to analyze the figures and comb through the footnotes. The report is
going to be released on Friday and most financial reporters aren't accountants."
Why the huge discrepancy between the two figures? "The $248 billion federal
budget deficit figure results from what basically amounts to a cash flow
analysis," Williams explained. "On a cash basis, the Treasury takes all the tax
revenue, including Social Security taxes, as current income. The trick is that
Treasury essentially steals the money that comes in on Social Security taxes,
without accounting for any offsetting Social Security liability. When you run
your accounting that way, the Treasury gets to report a federal budget deficit
that dramatically reduces the real figure." What's different about the
anticipated 2006 Financial Report of the United States? "Congress a few years
ago mandated that the Treasury had to report one report each year that used GAAP
accounting," Williams told WND. "Then, when you figure in all liabilities
including Social Security and Medicare, the real 2006 deficit is huge by
comparison. What I expect to show up on Friday is a real federal budget deficit
of $3.5 trillion or more, not the $248.2 billion earlier reported." "Even
worse," Williams continued, "the US Government's negative net worth widened to
$49.4 trillion in 2005. For the first time, total government liabilities have
topped $50 trillion, and the number is continuing to grow. The United States
is bankrupt, whether the Bush administration wants to admit it or not." How
serious a problem are federal deficits of this magnitude? "A federal budget
deficit in the trillions of dollars is beyond the reach of fiscal control,"
Williams answered. "Even if the federal government raised individual and
corporate income taxes to 100 percent, simply confiscating every penny every
business and person in the US made, we would still have a federal deficit."
"There are lots of people who know that the federal deficit is in the
trillions," Williams continued. "The problem is that few dare sound the alarm.
The magnitude of the budget deficit problem is just too enormous and neither
political party has the courage to address the problem." Williams is clear about
the coming danger. "The United States is bankrupt," he insisted. "With
less than one-tenth of the actual deficit being reported each year, a cumulative
negative net worth exceeding $50 trillion has built up in stealth to where the
total obligations of the US government are now more than four times our annual
gross domestic product. "The Treasury numbers in the Financial Report of the
United States are hard," Williams insisted, "and the doomsday is not far off. Pope Meets
Olmert, Praises 'Turn-the-Other-Cheek' Policy
Olmert urged
the Pope to encourage Christians to take a stance against Holocaust denial in
light of Iran’s state-sponsored conference this week,
questioning the reality of the Nazi genocide. The Vatican released a statement
directed at the Iranian conference on, saying, "The Shoah [Holocaust] was a
great tragedy before which we cannot remain indifferent. The memory of those
horrible events must remain as a warning for people's consciences." The Pope
praised Olmert’s visit to Germany and lauded Israel’s decision not to respond to
continued missile attacks on Jewish towns in the western Negev. The Pontiff
discussed with Olmert the Vatican’s land holdings in Israel and the Catholic
Church’s aims to develop a center on Mount Zion. According to Olmert’s office,
the prime minister issued an invitation during the meeting for the Pope to visit
Israel, saying that, “his very presence would increase peace in Israel.”
Benedict said he would come to Israel “when things calm down.” The Catholic
world leader recently visited Turkey in an attempt to placate outraged Muslims
following statements he made quoting an opinion that Islam is violent. Israel
and the Vatican established diplomatic relations in 1990. Saudis Warn
President Bush Against US Pullout Dec. 13….(AP)
Saudi Arabia warned Washington that it might provide financial aid to Iraqi
Sunnis in any fighting against Shiites if the US pulls its troops out of Iraq.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said, the Saudis have made it clear that they're
committed to the same goals we are, which is a self-sustaining Iraq that can
sustain, govern and defend itself, that will recognize and protect the rights of
all, regardless of sect or religion. And furthermore, they share our concerns
about the role the Iranians are playing in the region." Saudi Arabia, a majority
Sunni country, has promised US officials that it would not intervene to assist
Iraq's Sunni insurgency, but that promise might not hold if US troops leave
Iraq, the source said. Saudi King Abdullah reportedly issued the warning to Vice
President Dick Cheney two weeks ago during Cheney's visit to Riyadh. The message
also emphasized the kingdom's displeasure with proposed talks between the US
government and Iran. In Saudi Arabia, an official flatly denied the report. The
AP reported last week that private citizens in Saudi Arabia are funneling money
to Sunni insurgents in Iraq, often through either charitable donations or
carried by trucks carrying pilgrims and their luggage between the two countries.
Iran, a majority Shiite country, is believed to be providing military and
financial support to Shiite elements in Iraq. The recently released Iraq Study
Group report suggested the Bush administration engage Iran and neighboring Syria
in talks aimed at applying pressure on Iraqi Shiites to keep what some analysts
are calling a civil war from spiraling into a regional conflict. Saudi Arabia
has expressed concern that once US troops leave Iraq that the controlling Shiite
majority could massacre the Sunni minority, believed to comprise a large faction
of the deadly insurgency that has claimed thousands of Iraqi civilian and US
military lives. Saudi Arabia's fears seemed to have been exacerbated by growing
discussions in Washington aimed at accelerating the timeframe for bringing
troops home.
Holocaust Deniers Praise Ahmadinejad Dec. 13….(Newsmax)
Participants at a conference questioning whether the Holocaust took place
praised Iran's hard-line president, saying the gathering gives them the chance
to air theories casting doubt on the Nazi genocide that are banned in parts of
Europe. International condemnation continued to pour in against the
government-sponsored conference in Tehran, which has drawn Holocaust deniers
from around the world. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was "shocking
beyond belief" and called the conference "a symbol of sectarianism and hatred."
He said he saw little hope of engaging Iran in constructive action in the Middle
East, saying, "I look around the region at the moment, and everything Iran is
doing is negative." The United States, which also condemned the gathering, has
been considering whether to open a dialogue with Iran to get its help in calming
neighboring Iraq. President George W. Bush has so far refused to approach Iran,
accusing it of backing terrorism. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad initiated the
two-day gathering, which began on Monday, in an attempt to bolster his image as
a leader standing up to Israel, Europe and the United States, an image he has
used to whip up support at home and abroad. Earlier this year, the hard-liner
president has described the Holocaust as a "myth" that has been used to impose
the state of Israel on the Arab world and called for Israel to be wiped off the
map. "Ahmadinejad's Holocaust comment opened a new window in international
relations on this issue. The 67 participants from 30 countries, who include some
of Europe's most prominent Holocaust deniers were expected to meet Ahmadinejad
later Tuesday. "This conference has an incredible impact on Holocaust studies
all over the world," said American David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader and
former state representative in Louisiana. "The Holocaust is the device used as
the pillar of Zionist imperialism, Zionist aggression, Zionist terror and
Zionist murder," Duke told The Associated Press. Also among the participants
were two rabbis and four other members of the group Jews United Against Zionism,
who were dressed in the traditional long black coats and black hats of
ultra-Orthodox Jews. The group says the creation of the state of Israel violated
Jewish law and argues that the Holocaust should not be used to justify its
founding. Many of the speakers at the conference insisted the extent of the
Holocaust had been largely exaggerated, some contending Jews had exploited it to
win backing for the creation of Israel. Ahmadinejad has won support in some
parts of Asia and the Middle East for his tough rhetoric against Israel, and it
has helped keep up his support among hard-liners in Iran. But the Holocaust
conference only solidified his image in the West as a threat. Tehran
Calls on UN Security Council and Organization of the Islamic Conference to
Combat “Israeli Threats” Dec.
13….(DEBKA) This statement by the foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali
Hosseini in Tehran Wednesday, Dec. 13 was the first Iranian official response to
prime minister Ehud Olmert’s indication in Berlin Monday, Dec. 11 that Israel
has a nuclear weapon. Later, the prime minister amended his statement by saying:
“Israel has said many times it will not be the first country to introduce
nuclear weapons to the Middle East. That was our position – nothing has
changed.” The Iranian spokesman said: "His confession shows the real threat to
security and stability in the Middle East and it shows this regime's evil plans
to carry out threats against Islamic countries, a terror strategy and continued
occupation." In Cairo, Mohammed Sobeih, the Arab League’s assistant secretary
general in charge of Palestinian affairs said the 22-member organization must
exert pressure on Israel through the International Atomic Energy Agency to open
its nuclear facilities to inspection. In Boiling
Gaza, Its Terror vs. Terror Dec. 13….(Stan
Goodenough) Inter-Arab fighting continues to escalate in the Gaza Strip,
where Hamas members and Fatah supporters continue killing one another in cold
blood. Early Wednesday, four men alighted from an unmarked car outside a
courthouse in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, shooting dead Bassem
el-Fara, a judge affiliated with the Hamas. The murder comes 48 hours after
Hamas-linked gunmen butchered three small children of a Fatah-affiliated member
of the Palestinian Authority. It was also the second assassination of a judge in
the past four days. The killings have been followed by demonstrations by armed
men gathering at traffic intersections in Gaza, firing their weapons into the
air and screaming for revenge. Dec.
13….(Jerusalem Post) As Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reiterated nearly 10
times on Tuesday that Israel's policy on nuclear ambiguity remained unchanged,
after sparking an uproar the day earlier with comments to a German television
network implying the opposite, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed once
again that Israel would be "wiped out." Speaking on the second day of a
Holocaust conference in Teheran, Ahmadinejad predicted that Israel would follow
the path of the former Soviet Union. "The Zionist regime will be wiped out
soon the same way the Soviet Union was, and humanity will achieve freedom,"
Ahmadinejad said at Tuesday's meeting with the conference participants in his
offices, according to Iran's official news agency, IRNA. He said elections
should be held among "Jews, Christians and Muslims so the population of
Palestine can select their government and destiny for themselves in a democratic
manner." Olmert told Israeli reporters at a briefing in the afternoon that his
words had been taken out of context, and that if the full interview were read,
it would be clear that he said that Israel would not be the first country to
introduce nuclear weapons in the region, and that his opposition on the Left and
the Right were taking advantage of the interview for domestic political
purposes. "Israel has said repeatedly that it will not be the first country to
introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East, and this policy has not changed,"
Olmert told reporters after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in her
office. With these comments, Olmert was trying to put an end to the tempest that
his interview, during which he argued that a nuclear Israel did not pose the
same threat as a nuclear Iran, had caused. Merkel, meanwhile, said that the
international community must use all diplomatic means at its disposal, including
sanctions, to stop Iran's nuclear march. Merkel opened up the press conference
by strongly condemning the Holocaust denial conference being held in Iran. "I
would like to make clear that we reject with all our strength the conference
taking place in Iran about the supposed nonexistence of the Holocaust," Merkel
said. Iran
Propping Up Client Terror State: $250 Million to PA Dec. 12….(Arutz)
Iran has promised a quarter of a billion dollars to the Hamas Authority,
says Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, turning the PA into a form of Iranian
dependency. Haniyeh returned yesterday from a visit to Tehran, his first visit
outside Israel since he took office nearly a year ago. He told a Hamas internet
site that the promised aid includes the following: $100 million
during the course of 2007 $45 million for
aid to terrorist prisoners and their families $60 million for
100,000 unemployed for six months $20 million to
rebuild destroyed houses $15 million for
public libraries, employees' salaries in three PA government offices for the
next six months $4.5 million for
an airplane, refurbishing two more, and the purchase of 300 cars, and money to build
three hospitals and ten health clinics in Judea, Samaria and Gaza over the next
ten years. The PA's
annual budget is 6-8 times the above amount. Until Hamas came to power earlier
this year, the European Union used to support the Palestinian Authority to the
tune of $600 million, and the US used to give $420 million. The two cut off the
aid when Hamas refused to renounce terrorism or recognize Israel. However, they
have given close to $400 million in humanitarian aid, routing it through UN
agencies to prevent it from reaching the Hamas government. Most of the
relatively little money promised by Arab nations over the past several years to
the Palestinian Authority has not arrived. Iran and Qatar have each promised in
the past to give the PA $50 million, enough for about three weeks of PA salary
needs. Qatar later upped its offer to $30 million a month. A report by the
Council of Foreign Relations asserts that "considering historical precedent,
experts say" the aid is not likely to come." The CFR report says, "Members of
the Arab League promised the PA $55 million per month in 2002, but Saudi Arabia
is the only country that has paid its part of the commitment regularly. Kuwait
and other Persian Gulf countries have paid, but not the entire amount they
promised, and other Arab League nations like Algeria paid once or twice, or not
at all. And experts say donations from other Muslim nations came with their own
strings. Contributions from Arab countries 'weren't necessarily tied to need,
but more about gaining influence and jockeying for position with other Arab
leaders,' says Edward Sayre, an assistant professor of economics at Agnes Scott
College and an expert on Palestinian labor markets. 'It had very little to do
with PA needs and wants.'" On the other hand, the PA's acting finance minister
Samir Abu Aisha said last week that Arab governments had increased their direct
payments to the government from $20 million a month before Hamas came to power
to $45 million. The money is often smuggled in, with no official control over
where it ultimately goes. Last May, Albawaba.com reports, Hamas spokesman Sami
Abu Zuhri was caught attempting to smuggle nearly $900,000 in cash across the
border... Despite the smuggling attempts, many of which have no doubt gone
unnoticed by authorities, the funds have yet to be used to pay salaries of the
general population, most of which has struggled for nine months without pay.
Rather than ending up in the hands of Palestinians, donations from Iran have
reportedly been transferred to those close to Hamas and to strengthen the da'wa
[outreach] mechanism of the Islamic Resistance Movement." Neither do Arab
nations support UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East, in a major way. UNRWA's largest donors in 2005
were the European Commission, the United States, Sweden and Norway. UN chief
Kofi Annan has issued a call for increased international funding for UNRWA by
the US, while blaming the United States for the plight of the Palestinians.
Carter to Leno: Treatment of
Palestinians by Israel 'Horrible' (Carter never
mentions onslaught of thousands of terrorist attacks against Israelis) Dec. 12….(WND)
Without ever mentioning the onslaught of attacks by Palestinian terrorists
and suicide bombers, former President Jimmy Carter told a national audience
watching the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" there is "horrible persecution" of
Palestinians at the hands of Israelis, and he is urging a return to peace talks
between the residents of the embattled region. "In Palestinian territory, there
is horrible persecution of the Palestinians who live on their own land," Carter
said. "A minority of Israelis want to have the land instead of peace. The
majority of Israelis for the last 30 years have always said [they] will exchange
their own land in exchange for peace. But a minority disagrees and they have
occupied the land, they have confiscated it, they have colonized it, and they
forced Palestinians away from their homes, away from their pastures, away from
their fields, cut down the olive trees and severely persecuted the
Palestinians." The 82-year-old Carter was on Jay Leno's show last night to
promote his new book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." Leno said to the
president who held office more than 25 years ago, "But when Israel gives
something back, it doesn't seem like they get anything for it. It seems like it
just moves some angry people closer to them." "No, that's not true at all,"
responded Carter. "Israel hasn't really tried to give 'Palestine' back to the
Palestinians. They did give up some of Gaza. And then they moved out, and the
Palestinians captured one soldier and tried to swap him for 300 children, some
as young as 12 years old, and 94 women, but the Israelis wouldn't swap. So then
Israel reinvaded Gaza. But if Israel ever wants peace, and they do want peace, a
majority of Israelis have always said, 'Let's get rid of the land, and let's
have peace.' That's what we need to have." As WND reported last month, the
Palestinian terror group Hamas announced the only way to stop its regular rocket
fire on Sderot, an Israeli city of about 20,000 nearly three miles from the Gaza
Strip border, is for the Jewish state to evacuate the entire city. Abu Abaida,
spokesman for Hamas' so-called military wing, said his group is seeking to
impose "a new equation in which the Zionists understand that for every incursion
into Gaza, we will use our rockets to bombard your towns and cities until more
and more are forced to evacuate. Our rockets have already improved, as Sderot
residents know. We keep working on (the rockets) to improve deadliness, force
and distance." FOJ Note:
Mr. Carter doesn’t know the Bible. The now infamous “disputed land” was given
to Israel by God. Israel is not an Apartheid state, as Israel conveys
citizenship with full rights to Arabs. To the contrary, the entire Arab world
practices apartheid against Israel, rejecting its right to even exist, anywhere.
Jimmy Carter is a perfect example of Replacement theology, and of gross
anti-Semitism.
Olmert Breaks Israel’s Nuclear Silence in Response to US Defense Secretary’s
Charge Dec. 12….(DEBKA) Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert
made his surprising disclosure Monday, Dec. 11: "Israel doesn’t threaten any
country," he said. "Iran openly, explicitly and publicly threatens to wipe
Israel off the map. Can you see this on the same level when you are aspiring
to have a nuclear weapon like the US, France, Israel and Russia?" the
Israeli PM asked in an interview today. This was the first Israeli official
admission of the possession of nuclear weapons. DEBKAfile’s
military sources report that Olmert decided on this step in response to US
defense secretary Robert Gates’ listing of Israel as among the nuclear
states surrounding Iran to explain Tehran’s search for a nuclear deterrent
of its own. He was the first American official to confirm Israel had a
nuclear weapon and did so without consulting Jerusalem. Olmert chose his
journey to Germany, which coincided with the opening in Tehran of a
conference negating the Holocaust, for his shock disclosure. This conference
is taken in Israel as a vehicle for attacking Zionist legitimacy and so
justifying Iran’s ambition to destroy the Jewish state. Olmert used the
opportunity to remind Iran’s rulers that Israel possesses a large stock of
nuclear weapons capable of not only smashing Iran’s nuclear facilities but
also disabling its infrastructure. Olmert went on to note that the US,
Russia, France and Great Britain possess nuclear weapons. But," he said;
"there is no equating them with a country like Iran. You are talking about
civilized countries that do not threaten other countries with the use of
nuclear weapons to destroy them." According to our sources, the prime
minister did not confer with any minister, military adviser or secret
service head before delivering his dramatic revelation. On December 10,
DEBKAfile’s military sources offered the view that Israel cannot
afford to leave answered Robert Gates’ assertion last Tuesday that no one
can guarantee Iran will not use a nuclear bomb to attack Israel. Our
analysts urged the Olmert government to counter Iran’s constant threats by
embracing a bold, proactive nuclear posture in place of the long-held
passive ambiguity. Olmert’s disclosure indeed raised the profile of the
Israel-Iran duel. DEBKAfile’s Tehran sources report that high Iranian officials
conferred urgently Monday night, Dec. 11, with supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in search of a quick rejoinder to Olmert’s surprise move. They must
take into account the effect of their response on their relations with the
United States; a naked military threat against Israel could nip in the bud
the chance of a US-Iran engagement on Iraq such as the Baker-Hamilton panel
has recommended. The prime minister’s few aides in the know took this into
consideration. He has also been at pains to down-pedal intelligence of
Syrian plans for a summer 2007 war so as not to upset Egyptian and Saudi
efforts to detach Damascus from its close collaboration with Tehran.
Israel on the Altar Again Dec. 11….(By
David Dolan) Nearly four years ago, George W. Bush and Tony Blair led a
small international coalition into Iraq with the goal of toppling Saddam
Hussein's notorious regime and replacing it with a Western-style democracy. I
wrote then about my strong misgivings over this dramatic action, despite the
fact that I was as eager as anyone who suffered Saddam's nightly 1991 Scud
attacks upon Israel to see the evil dictator removed from power. I noted that
Israeli security experts were hardly unanimous in expressing enthusiasm over the
US-led military campaign. Several told me privately they were convinced that
the coalition was focusing on a relatively small player in the regional
terrorist-WMD equation, which would probably end up allowing more threatening
actors like Iran and Syria off the hook. Haifa's mayor Yonah Yahav told me
during a TV interview just one week before the war began that Israeli leaders
were certain that Saddam had already passed whatever mass destruction weapons he
possessed into Syria. Decimated in the Gulf War, the Arab leader posed a
relatively small threat to regional stability, Yahav argued, and was unlikely to
prove to be a major backer of Osama bin Laden whose radical Muslim views he
feared. Yahav added that it was Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah forces busy
building an empire in nearby Lebanon that kept Israeli leaders on edge, fueled
as they were by Islamic extremist passions that Saddam simply did not
display. As a resident of the turbulent Middle East for over two decades, it
seemed abundantly obvious to me that Bush and Blair had practically no chance to
oversee the formation of a stable democracy in despotic, faction-torn Iraq.
Instead, I wrote that the country would likely end up resembling Lebanon with
its deeply divided ethnic-religious communities and frequent upheavals, fueled
by anti-democratic neighbors like Syria and Iran. In fact, it seemed so apparent
to me that the expensive war and hopeless rebuilding effort would end in a
Vietnam style retreat for US and British forces that I told some friends I
actually wondered if the two leaders were not either willing or unknowing cogs
in some grand conspiracy to ultimately weaken both nuclear-armed
powers. Although I am not usually into such conspiracy theories, I found it
nearly impossible to believe that these two experienced politicians, or at least
some of their top advisors, could not foresee the ultimate futility of their
stated lofty goal to create the first stable Arab democracy in the heart of the
autocratic Muslim Middle East. Anyway, the whole affair was a clear diversion
from their main declared ambition to thwart Al Qaida's open threats to carry out
further mega-attacks against the "Crusader" West. With President Bush finally
admitting that the plan is hardly unfolding as he had publicly anticipated,
along comes his daddy's former Secretary of State to tell us how to fix things.
The proposed Baker commission solutions involve further sacrificing the security
of the only REAL democracy and stable pro-Western ally in the Middle East--tiny
Israel. This was another outcome I also feared and anticipated when the war
began in March 2003. You see, the Jewish-run state is somehow the main spark for
the radical Islamic violence that is gripping much of the world, and must
therefore be forced to allow a Palestinian state to rise within miles of Haifa,
Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. That such a state would surely be dominated by Al
Qaida's militant twin Sunni brother Hamas, and would therefore strengthen the
world jihad movement, is apparently of little concern to Jim Baker and
company. Next Israel must abandon the green Golan Heights--source of much of
Israel's fresh water--to the vile Assad regime that is busy oppressing its
Syrian citizens and attempting to retake full control over Lebanon via its
Hezbollah proxies.
Syrian Guerillas 'to Launch Resistance Within Months' Dec. 11….(WND) If Israel does not vacate the Golan Heights within months, a guerilla organization allegedly formed in Syria will soon launch "resistance operations" against Israeli positions and Jewish communities in the Golan, an official from Syrian President Bashar Assad's Baath party told WND in an exclusive interview. "If in the coming months an agreement is not forged between Israel and Syria (for an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan), the Committees will begin attacks," said the official, who spoke on condition his name be withheld during an in-person interview with WND and with the G. Gordon Liddy national American radio show. The official was referring to the Committees for the Liberation of the Golan Heights, a Hizbullah-like guerrilla organization Baath party sources claim was formed in Syria to attack Israeli positions in the Golan. The Baath official told WND Syria learned from Hizbullah's military campaign against Israel that "fighting" is more effective than peace negotiations with regard to gaining territory. The Baath official told WND Syria's new Committees for the Liberation of the Golan Heights was formed this past June and that the group consists of Syrian volunteers, many from the Syrian border with Turkey and from Palestinian refugee camps near Damascus. He said Syria held registration for volunteers to join the Committees in June. The official said attacks by the Committees may include the infiltration of Jewish communities in the Golan, rocket attacks against Israeli positions or raids of Golan-based Israeli military installations. He said all attacks would be launched from the Syrian side of the border. WND first reported in June on the alleged formation of the Front for the Liberation of the Golan. One month later, a man identified as the leader of the Front gave an interview to state-run Iranian television.
Iran Hosts Holocaust Denial Conference Dec.11….(AP) Iran on Monday opened a Holocaust conference that it said would examine whether the genocide took place, claiming the meeting was an opportunity for discussion in an atmosphere free of Western taboos. The conference named, "Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision," was initiated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has described the Holocaust as a "myth" and called for Israel to be wiped off the map. Even before it opened, the gathering was condemned by Germany, the United States and Israel. Iran is sponsoring the controversial conference where "researchers" will be able to openly question the veracity of the Holocaust, despite a chorus of international disapproval. The organizers, the Foreign Ministry's Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), say the two-day conference has drawn 67 foreign researchers from 30 countries. In his opening speech, the institute's chief, Rasoul Mousavi, said the conference provided an opportunity to discuss "Questions" About the Holocaust away from Western taboos and the restrictions imposed on scholars in Europe. In Germany, Austria and France, it is illegal to deny the Holocaust. The theme of the conference plays along this question, “Why should Palestinians pay for Nazis' crimes?' Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki dismissed the foreign criticism as "predictable," telling conference that "the objective for organizing this conference is to create an atmosphere to raise various opinions about a historical issue. We are not seeking to deny or prove the Holocaust," Mottaki said. "If the official version of the Holocaust is thrown into doubt, then the identity and nature of Israel will be thrown into doubt. And if, during this review, it is proved that the Holocaust was a historical reality, then what is the reason for the Muslim people of the region and the Palestinians having to pay the cost of the Nazis' crimes?" Mottaki said. Mottaki also described anti-Semitism as a unique Western phenomenon. He said that there was never any anti-Semitism or racism in Iran, and that "not only does this phenomenon not exist in Muslim countries, but throughout history many Jews can be found in these countries who have reached senior positions." The conference also attacks Christian Zionism, and states that the establishment of Zionism was a human rights violation which brought about the Holocaust.
Hamas and Iran Walking Hand-in-Hand to Destroy Israel 
Dec.11….(JNEWSWIRE) Palestinian Authority 'Prime Minister' Ismail Haniyeh walked hand in hand with Iranian megalomaniac Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the weekend, the two men encouraging each other in their mutual ambition to destroy Israel. Haniyeh, who is leading the war against the Jews from within, assured Ahmadinejad that his "Palestinians" were ready to wage jihad until Jerusalem had been "liberated" from Israel. In response, Ahmadinejad, who sees his country as leading the "holy war" from the outside, and who is actively pursuing the nuclear weapons needed to achieve that goal, encouraged the "Palestinian government not to give in to international pressure and to continue to fight the Jewish state until it is removed."
WEEK OF DECEMBER 4 THROUGH DECEMBER 10
Understanding James BakerDec. 8….(By Dr. Richard Booker) Despite a recent media report touting the experience and skills James Baker III offers as co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, a look at his record and an anti-Semitic British official with whom he identifies suggest the former secretary of state's involvement in US foreign policy could spell disaster for the state of Israel. The Dec. 3 Houston Chronicle carried a front-page article extolling Baker for his public service to America and skill as a tough negotiator. The article continued on page 10, where it filled the entire page. The primary point of the article was to express hope that Baker, by drawing on his considerable experience and skills, could find a solution to America's problems in Iraq as co-chair of the ISG. The 10-member Iraq Study Group this week presented its recommendations to President Bush for American policy and strategy regarding our war in Iraq. The panel is co-chaired by former 9-11 commission member Lee Hamilton. The group consists of five Democrats and five Republicans, including former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Conner and former CIA Director Robert Gates. Gates resigned his commission recently when he was nominated to replace Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense. The Chronicle article mentioned that, while attending Princeton University, Baker wrote a senior thesis about the clash in the 1930s between two powerful members of Great Britain's Parliament, Aneurin Bevan, an idealist, and Ernest Bevin, a realist. The article mentioned that Baker argued in favor of the pragmatist Bevin. In his new book, "Work Hard, Study and Keep out of Politics," Baker comments, "Those who know me will not be surprised that I favored the approach of the realist." For those who may not recognize the name, Ernest Bevin was the British foreign minister in the British Labor Party led by Clement Attlee. At this time, Britain was at the height of its power as one of the greatest empires in history. The empire spanned nearly a third of the world's land. Truly "the sun never set on the Union Jack." Previous British government administrations were devout Christian Zionists. They believed the Almighty had allowed Britain such great power for the purpose of facilitating the establishment of a Jewish homeland in fulfillment of the ancient Jewish prayer, "Next year in Jerusalem." Prime Minister Lloyd George, Foreign Secretary James Balfour, Gen. Edmund Allenby and others believed that the biblical statements concerning the Jewish homeland were the essential factor in any decisions regarding the Jewish people and Palestine. Unfortunately, the Labor Party and Mr. Bevin did not share these views. They counted the number of Arabs and Arab oil and reversed the policies of the previous administration. They were not only against the Jewish people having their own country, they did everything they could to negate the Balfour Declaration and actively assisted the Arabs in their efforts to destroy the Jews of pre-Israel Palestine. As the foreign minister at this time, Ernest Bevin was the leading proponent of the new British pro-Arab, anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist policies. He adamantly opposed the desperate efforts of European Jewish Holocaust survivors to immigrate to Palestine. He insisted that they be denied entrance to Palestine and be returned to their Displaced Persons camps in Europe. His policy directly resulted in the tragedy of the ship Exodus being turned away and the further suffering of the refugee passengers. On Jan. 15, 1948, the day the British signed a treaty with Iraq, Bevin reached a secret agreement with the Iraqi leaders whereby the British agreed to speed up the supply of weapons and ammunition for 50,000 "Palestinian policemen." Of course, these "policemen" were Palestinian Arab fighters the British armed to defeat the "Zionist entity" before it could become a reality. He also agreed that Iraqi forces would enter every area evacuated by British troops in Palestine so that a Jewish state would not be formed. He encouraged Transjordan to invade Palestine, which it would do under the command of British officers. Bevin was influenced by a British politician named Harold Beely, an Arabized, anti-Semite who opposed the Balfour Declaration. While I am sure Mr. Bevin believed he was acting in the best interest of Britain, his policies represented one of the greatest betrayals by a government in modern history. Furthermore, they were a primary cause for the continuing conflict in the Middle East that has troubled America ever since. When Britain turned its back on the Jews, the Almighty turned His back on Britain. While Israel became a state, Britain lost its empire. It has lost its Judeo-Christian culture. It is dying spiritually. Its civilization and way of life is rapidly being replaced by Islam. Along with his many accomplishments and positions in government, Baker is the senior counsel for the Carlyle Group, a major international financial organization with extensive interests in the Middle East, including the Saudi royal family and the bin Ladens. His law firm, Baker Botts, is representing the Saudi government in the 9-11 victims lawsuit against Saudi Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz. I cannot help but notice the parallels between the current policies of the US State Department, Baker's well-known anti-Semitic, anti-Israel pro-Arab policies and those of Mr. Bevin. For the sake of our great nation, may America and James Baker not follow in the footsteps of Britain.
Haniyeh in Iran Vows to Never Recognize Israel
Israel Frets Over Iraq Report, Dispatches FM to Washington Dec. 8….(Arutz) Israel's foreign minister has arrived in the United States amid worries that the Jewish state's main ally could shift course after a report urged Washington to redouble Mideast peacemaking efforts. Tzipi Livni will meet with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other officials during her visit, which will focus on the repercussions of a report released Wednesday by the Iraq Study Group, her office said. That report said progress towards Arab-Israeli peace was key to saving Iraq. It also called for direct US talks with two of Israel's most fearsome foes, Syria and Iran, the latter of which is believed to be steaming ahead in its bid for nuclear weapons. A day after receiving the top-level commission's report, the United States and Britain signaled the start of a renewed diplomatic push in the region. President George W. Bush promised "concerted efforts to advance the cause of peace" and said British Prime Minister Tony Blair would soon travel to the region for talks with Israel and the Palestinians. The prime minister's visit was to set the stage for Rice, in early 2007, to make her eighth trip in two years to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Rice's spokesman said. The renewed focus on Mideast peacemaking and growing domestic pressure on US leaders to end the imbroglio in Iraq has Israelis worrying about a possible policy shift by Bush, who for six years has largely ignored the intricacies of the Quartet’s Mideast peace roadmap. "The fact that he has decided to support Blair's visit to the region and to present this trip as a joint mission of Britain and the United States shows that Bush intends to at least try to change his policy," Israel's Yediot Aharonot daily wrote Friday. The newspaper went on to slam the Iraq report, accusing its chief authors James Baker and Lee Hamilton of ignoring Israel while preparing the report. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has also expressed disatisfaction with the report's recommendations. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, he said US problems in Iraq "are entirely independent of the controversy between us and the Palestinians." He also said that restarting peace talks with Syria, as recommended by the report, was unlikely in the near future. In statements sure to allay Israeli concerns, Bush has rebuffed some of the report's recommendations and maintained his insistence that Damascus and Tehran renounce support for extremists and pledge support for Baghdad's fledgling government and that Iran freeze sensitive nuclear work before any direct talks. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, meanwhile, have both welcomed the Iraq Study Group's recommendation that Bush revitalize Arab-Israeli peacemaking efforts.
Bush/Blair: Al Qaeda, Iran Feeding Hatred, Violence in Mideast (President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair presented a united front today, painting the sectarian-terror violence in Iraq as a battle between freedom and terror in which Iraqis have fallen victim to Al Qaeda's and Iran's efforts to cause chaos and control the region) (FOJ Note: Since Syria and Iran are known to be fomenting the violence in Iraq, the political deduction by the ISG is that Israel must pay!)
Dec. 7….(Fox News) The two leaders agreed that the vision of the Iraq Study Group for a peaceful Middle East is correct, but added that the bloodshed in Baghdad is the result of extremists who want to impose their rule on "this vital part of the world." "It is true that Sunni and Shia extremists are targeting each other's innocent civilians and engaging in brutal reprisals. It's also true that forces beyond Iraq's borders contribute to this violence," Bush. The British Prime Minister put it this way: He said, 'The violence is not an accident or a result of faulty planning. It is a deliberate strategy. It is the direct result of outside extremists teaming up with internal extremists, Al Qaeda with the Sunni insurgents and Iran with the Shia militia, to foment hatred and to throttle at birth the possibility of a nonsectarian democracy. Tony Blair announced that he is headed to the Middle East to speak with Israelis and Palestinians as part of a greater plan to resolve broader issues that the Iraq Study Group claims are holding up a solution in Iraq. "This is something that I know you feel deeply and passionately about," Blair said, noting Bush's role as the first US president to propose a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians. "I believe that by moving this forward, we send a very strong signal not just to the region but to the whole of the world that we are evenhanded in the application of our values," Blair said. President Bush stressed that it was crucial to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and reiterated that he is committed to a two-state solution. Bush also said that Israel and the Palestinians must assume responsibility, adding that he could not impose a deal on the sides. President Bush appeared to endorse the panel's conclusion that any resolution of the Iraq conflict is tied to reducing tensions between Israel and the Palestinians and across the broader Middle East, a position Blair has long held. For his part, Blair suggested that Iran's support for Shiite militants in southern Iraq presented a problem. Iran has been basically arming, supporting, financing terrorism. Blair said the terrorists' threat in Iraq is part of an old pattern that is region-wide. Terrorism "has basically come out of the Middle East" and must be addressed in a way that includes a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Russia And China Conflict Of Interest Exposed Over Iran Dec. 7….(KIN/Bill Wilson) Russia and China are demonstrating a huge conflict of interest from their position on the United Nations Security Council by holding up any action against Iran for its nuclear program, once again exposing the institutional corruption and lack of moral integrity of the type and shadow of the one world government. The five permanent Security Council members have been diplomatically stewing over sanctions on Iran for over six months and the issue has been plaguing the world for at least two years, mainly because Russia and China have lucrative billion-dollar-plus business interests in Iran’s nuclear development and refuse to stop their Machiavellian scheme to use Iran to achieve a stronger world position. Russia’s current objections to sanctions against Iran include proposals that would expand the amount of inspections of Iran’s nuclear program by the International Atomic Energy Agency; that would freeze the assets of those assisting Iran’s nuclear program; and those that would ban travel for those who are connected to Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. All of these types of sanctions would impact both Russia and China who are assisting Iran in both its nuclear development and its missile program, actions all that impact China and Russia’s economic and military strategies with Iran. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the sanctions were disproportionate and irresponsible. Meantime, Iran’s radical terrorist-sponsoring Islamist leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatened the European nations. Ahmadinejad said, "I'm telling you in plain language that as of now on, if you try, whether in your propaganda or at international organizations, to take steps against the rights of the Iranian nation, the Iranian nation will consider it an act of hostility.” Ahmadinejad said Iran will reconsider its relations with the European nations, which amounts to millions of dollars in yearly trade. Ahmadinejad has also said that Israel should be destroyed along with the United States. The charade at the United Nations by Russia and China is reminiscent of the Oil for Food scandal where Russia and China, and France as well, were taking under the table bribes from Saddam Hussein to hold the Western nations at bay while he built up Iraq’s military. Russia and China are not to be trusted. Their open conflict of interest with Iran on the Security Council also proves that a one-world government is incapable of protecting the interests of what is right. Revelation 13:7, which speaks of the one world government led by the antichrist, says “And it was given unto him (antichrist) to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”
Gulf States Worried About Iran’s Intentions Dec. 7….(MENL) When Iran’s Foreign Minister, Ali Larijani entered the conference hall of the Arab World Strategy 2006, the Arab audience parted like the Red Sea. The Iranian national security adviser was treated as visiting royalty and his message at the Dubai seminar greeted with utmost respect. Larijani's message left little to the imagination. In perhaps the harshest Iranian demand yet, he called on Persian Gulf Cooperation Council states to expel the US military from the region. After that, he said, Gulf Arab states must form an alliance with Iran. ''The security and stability of the region needs to be attained and we should do it inside the region, not through bringing in foreign forces,'' Larijani said on Tuesday. ''We should stand on our own feet.'' GCC states have been watching with increasing worry the Iranian military buildup in the Gulf. But in expectation of a US withdrawal from Iraq, Gulf Arab regimes are concerned about where to look for their security.
Another Day of Infamy Dec. 7….(FOJ) On this day in 1941, the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was attacked. The bombing killed 2,388 Americans, put much of the Pacific fleet out of commission, and came while the Japanese ambassador in Washington was preparing for a diplomatic appointment at the State Department. Among the losses was the battleship Arizona, which went down with nearly all hands on board. It is still there as a national shrine. In President Roosevelt's speech to Congress the next day asking for a declaration of war, he called Dec. 7 "a date which will live in infamy.” Fortunately, America rose to the test of that day, and beat back the forces of tyranny. Pearl Harbor is shown below in an aerial satellite photo. It was the site of the worst attack on our nation until September 11, 2001, and yet, it may not be the last.
Ironically, today, December 7, 2006, (through the Iraq Study Group) America, because it is a nation divided against itself, has decided to engage the forces of tyranny in dialogue, and try to find a way to appease the enemies of Liberty. Sadly, today is turning out to mark the day when America began to turn its back on Israel, in the Middle East Conflict. I caution all the readers of FOJ that the pathway that America is apparently choosing today, is a road to our own peril. Forcing Israel to make concessions of its Promised Land in order to facilitate a false peace with the enemies of Israel is an action that will bring the curse of God on our nation.
Syrian FM: No Solution to Iraq's Problems without Iran and Syria Dec. 7….(Ha Aretz) Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq Sharaa late Wednesday welcomed the Iraq Studying Group's recommendation to expand Middle East diplomacy as part of efforts to stabilize Iraq, saying a solution to Iraq's problems could not be reached without the help of Iran and Syria. "The two countries are Iraq's neighbors, and without getting them involved it will not be easy to find a solution to the predicament in Iraq," The Washington Times quoted Sharaa as saying at a political conference in Damascus. "We are not so arrogant to say that Syria and Iran can solve Iraq's problem," he added. "The entire international community may not be able to solve it. But let the Americans be a little bit modest and accept whoever has the capability to help." The Anti-Defamation League on Thursday blasted the Iraq Study Group for recommending the United States increase it involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order to stabilize Iraq, arguing there was no connection between the two issues. "The Iraq Study Group gets it wrong when it comes to the Arab-Israeli conflict. We reject the suggestion that there is a connection between finding a solution to the war in Iraq and direct involvement of the US in solving the Arab-Israeli conflict based on the recommendations in the report," the ADL said in a statement. "The goal of resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict should stand on its own and has always been a key objective of US foreign policy. It would be a terrible mistake to confuse the recent disintegration in Iraq with the decades-old Arab-Israeli conflict," it added. The report "prejudges the outcome of negotiations between Israel, the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon" and "waters down the international community’s clear preconditions for any negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel," the ADL said in its statement adding, "The report's specific recommendations, such as the return of the Golan Heights to Syria, should be left to final-status negotiations and not dictated to them by outside parties." The group also criticized the report for neglecting to call for a "total rejection of a nuclear Iran, because a nuclear Iran would do more to destabilize the region and undermine Americas interests than any other single factor."
A Middle East Peace Conference Without Israel (Insight magazine reports recent American government proposal to hold peace conference without Israeli presence. Baker says goal is to 'reach agreement without Jewish pressure) Dec. 7….(YNET) According to Thursday's issue of the conservative Washington Times' Insight magazine, the White House was looking into proposal by former Secretary of State James Baker to hold a Middle East peace conference without Israel. According to the report, the United States government was going to consider the possibility of having a second Madrid Conference in which Arab states would participate, including Syria and Iran, but with without Israel even being invited to participate. As reported by the magazine, officials said the conference would be promoted as a forum to discuss Iraq's future, but actually focus on Arab demands for Israel to withdraw from territories captured in the 1967 war. A source in the US government was quoted in the report as saying, "As Baker sees this, the conference would provide a unique opportunity for the US to strike a deal without Jewish pressure. This has become the hottest proposal examined by the foreign policy people over the last month." Other sources in the government told the magazine that the proposal was supported by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Under Secretary of Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, and National Intelligence Director John Negroponte. Renewed pressure on Israel Also, government sources were quoted as saying Baker's proposal to exclude Israel from a regional peace conference was receiving a lot of support due to Vice President Dick Cheney's visit to Saudi Arabia last November, during which sources in the country made it clear that Israel, and not Iran, was the cause of instability in the Middle East. A US government source claimed that Cheney's original goal of the trip, to enlist Saudi Arabia's support in Iraq, was never even discussed. In addition, the source said that instead, the Saudi's demanding an initiative to end Israel's attacks on Gaza and Cheney merely agreed. Baker's current initiative was to have the US enlist the aid of Arab States in exchange for an American commitment to renew pressure on Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and the Golan Heights.
Baker Report: Israel Must Withdraw from Golan Dec. 7….(Ha Aretz) The Baker-Hamilton report submitted Wednesday evening to US President George W. Bush marks a change in the American policy regarding the Middle East, particularly on the Israeli-Syrian channel. "In the context of a full and secure peace agreement, the Israelis should return the Golan Heights, with a US security guarantee for Israel that could include an international force on the border including US troops if requested by both parties," the Iraq Study Group headed by James Baker and Lee Hamilton recommended. According to the report, the return of the Golan Heights to Syria will be subject to the fulfillment of a series of conditions by the Syrians in peace negotiations: 1. Syria’s full adherence to UN Security Council Resolution 1701 of August 2006, which provides the framework for Lebanon to regain sovereign control over its territory. 2. Syria’s full cooperation with all investigations into political assassinations in Lebanon, especially those of Rafik Hariri and Pierre Gemayel. 3. A verifiable cessation of Syrian aid to Hizbullah and the use of Syrian territory for transshipment of Iranian weapons and aid to Hizbullah. (This step would do much to solve Israel’s ’s problem with Hizbullah.) 4. Syria’s use of its influence with Hamas and Hizbullah for the release of the captured Israeli Defense Force soldiers. 5. A verifiable cessation of Syrian efforts to undermine the democratically elected government of Lebanon. 6. A verifiable cessation of arms shipments from or transiting through Syria for Hamas and other radical Palestinian groups. 7. A Syrian commitment to help obtain from Hamas an acknowledgment of Israel’s right to exist. 8. Greater Syrian efforts to seal its border with Iraq. 9. Adherence to principle of land for peace On the Palestinian channel, the report rules that the elements of the negotiated peace should include: Adherence to UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and to the principle of land for peace, which are the only bases for achieving peace. Strong support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority to take the lead in preparing the way for negotiations with Israel. A major effort to move from the current hostilities by consolidating the ceasefire reached between the Palestinians and the Israelis in November 2006, and promotion for a Palestinian national unity government. Sustainable negotiations leading to a final peace settlement along the lines of President Bush’s two-state solution, which would address the key final status issues of borders, settlements, Jerusalem, the right of return, and the end of conflict. Analysts in Washington have already implied that there are those who suggest that Baker himself, who already served as secretary of state in the past, will be appointed a special envoy to the Middle East in a bid to twist Israel's arm. Israel objects to this possibility, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said so as he recently left a meeting with Bush.
Terrorists Rejoicing Over Baker Report (Leaders of Palestinian terror groups say Baker-Hamilton report proves 'Islamic resistance' works, express hope Jihad will ultimately destroy Israel) Dec. 7….(WND) A high level US commission's recommendations for an eventual withdrawal from Iraq and for dialogue with Iran and Syria proves "Islamic resistance" works and America will ultimately be defeated, according to senior terrorist leaders interviewed by WND. The militants, from the largest Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, welcomed the policies outlined by the Iraq Study Group, which they claim recognizes Islam is the "new giant of the world." "The report proves that this is the era of Islam and of jihad," said Abu Ayman, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank town of Jenin. The Islamic Jihad terror group is responsible for every suicide bombing in Israel during the past two years. With the Iraq Study Group report, the Americans came to the conclusion that Islam is the new giant of the world and it would be clever to reduce hostilities with this giant. In the Koran the principle of the rotation is clear and according to this principle the end of the Americans and of all non-believers is getting closer," Abu Ayman said. According to Abu Abdullah, a senior leader of Hamas' military wing, Baker's report is a victory for Islam brought about by "Allah and his angels." "It is not just a simple victory. It is a great one. The big superpower of the world is defeated by a small group of mujahedeen (fighters). Did you see the mujahedeens' clothes and weapons in comparison to the huge individual military arsenal and supply that was carrying every American soldier?" exclaimed Abu Abdullah, who is considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' declared "resistance" department. "It is no doubt that Allah and his angels were fighting with them (insurgents) against the Americans. Abu Abdullah said following a withdrawal from Iraq, the US will be defeated on its own soil. "America must understand that with anti-American governments in Latin America and with Islam growing and reinforcing, including in the US itself, the next step would be a total defeat on their (American) land, not a relative one like they are facing in Iraq," he said. Abu Nasser, the second-in-command of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group in the West Bank, called the Iraq Study Group report a "great victory" from which other jihadist organizations can learn. "The Iraqi victory is a great message and lesson to the revolutionary and freedom movements in the world. The al-Aqsa leader said his group learned from the "Iraqi resistance" that jihad will ultimately destroy Israel. The al-Aqsa Brigades is the military wing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party. If Israel will not start negotiating its withdrawal we are ready to launch the new stage of the intifada," Abu Nasser said. Islamic Jihad's Abu Ayman said after the US "defeat" in Iraq is finalized, insurgents there should move to the West Bank and Gaza to help destroy Israel. "We hope that after chasing the occupation from Iraq, these jihad efforts and experiences will be transferred to Palestine, and yes, I mean that we expect these fighters will come to Palestine as part of a big Islamic army."
Knesset Defense Expert: US Stance on Iran is Worrisome Dec. 7….(Arutz) Knesset Member Yuval Shteinitz, who chaired the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee until this year, commented with concern this morning on what may be the new US policy on Iran. Asked during his Senate confirmation hearings if he thought that President Ahmadinejad was "kidding" in his Holocaust denial and calls to destroy Israel, Gates said, "No, I don't think he's kidding. But I think that there are, in fact, higher powers in Iran than the president. And while they are certainly pressing, in my opinion, for a nuclear capability, I think that they would see it in the first instance as a deterrent. Gates also broke with tradition by asserting that Israel has nuclear capabilities. Explaining Iran's need for deterrence, Gates said that Iran is "surrounded by powers with nuclear weapons, Pakistan to their east, the Russians to the north, the Israelis to the west, and us in the Persian Gulf. In response to another question, Gates said that no one can provide Israel with an assurance that Iran would not attack Israel with a nuclear weapon. He said that he would favor an American attack on Iran only "if critical American interests are threatened" and "as a last resort." "The claim that Iran is developing nuclear weapons for defense and deterrence purposes is not compatible with Iran's declaration about wiping Israel off the map," Shteinitz said. Making such claims, he said, "is liable to harm the attempts to stop Iran's nuclear program." Israeli security elements view Gates's remarks with alarm. Yediot Acharonot defense commentator Alex Fishman says they feel that Iran has won the latest round of arm-twisting against the US, that Iran can confidently continue its nuclear program without fear, and that Iran's influence in the region is increasing while that of the US is declining. Gates assures us that although Ahmadinejad may be wacko, his Iranian leadership higher-ups have got to be more responsible, and if this sunny analysis is wrong and Iran lobs a weapon of mass destruction at Israel? Well, that's a risk that Gates seems willing to take, but Israel cannot."
Gates’ Reference to an Israeli Nuclear Weapon was Synchronized with Baker’s Exclusion of Israel from a Mid East Conference. (US Senate confirms Gates in defense by 95-2 vote) Dec. 7….(DEBKA) The pair is pursuing new policy line which sacrifices the traditional US-Israeli alliance for the sake of wooing Iran, Syria and Iraq’s neighbors for help in Iraq. During his senate hearings, Gates confirmed, and indirectly justified Iran’s quest for a nuclear weapon by declaring that Iran wants the power of deterrence against “the nuclear countries surrounding them, Pakistan in the east, Russia in the north, Israel in the west and the United States in the Persian Gulf.” Israeli vice premier Shimon Peres said Israel, backed by the US, has for decades pursued a policy of nuclear ambiguity as a powerful deterrence “against enemies bent on its destruction, while threatening no other country itself.” The designated US defense secretary did not consult, or even inform Israel before a disclosure that violates a confidence long-held between the two governments. Gates also said that “If Iran obtains nuclear weapons no one can promise it would not use them against Israel.” He was then confirmed as defense secretary Wednesday by an overwhelming 95-2 Senate vote. (It amounts to a US abandonment of Israeli security concerns) The only two opposing votes were cast by two Bush allies, Sens. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and Jim Bunning, R-Ky. They cited his criticism of the war and his view that the US should engage Iran as part of a solution. Some Washington pundits accused the co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, James Baker, as forcing President George W. Bush to resort to dealing with the Iraqi Shiite-led government for the sake of an orderly US exit from Iraq. The price offered is acceptance that Iran could go nuclear within two years at Israel’s expense. The group’s recommendation of a Madrid-2 peace conference for a Middle East peace would pander to the Arabs and their European backers by pushing for a full Israeli withdrawal from territories captured in the 1967 war. Israel and its supporters in the United States would have no say in the procedure. The Baker gang has revived the threat of an imposed “peace. Yet, the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem still clings to the now-meaningless statement that there is “no fear of a change in US policy towards Israel. The statement released Thursday, Dec. 7, asserted that Ehud Olmert was assured during his Washington visit two weeks ago that “there was no linkage between the Iraq issue and Israel.”
Teen Saved
from Forced Conversion to Islam
The Voice of the Martyrs confirmed in a new report that the teen, Azra Bibi, soon will be established in her own home through the assistance of a Christian pastor in the region, and the donations of Christians in the United States. Such situations, VOM confirms, happen all too frequently. As Christians in a Muslim nation, the family was subjected to the ongoing persecution of the community. In the case of Azra, she and her mother were working in a brick kiln, under almost slave-like conditions, in order to earn enough for the family to eat. She'd been working at the kilns since she was seven, and frequently endured the jeers and criticisms of Muslims working at the same plant, officials said. Then one day, the verbal attacks that began with the work day increased, and several Muslim women turned violent, beating Azra's mother, officials said. They were both taken to the brick kiln owner, where Azra's mom was murdered in the most horrific way," the report said, leaving the teen not only reeling from the loss of her mother, but now facing the responsibilities for her debts. The brick kiln owner had plans to force Azra to convert to Islam with the intention of marrying her off. But God had other plans," the VOM report said. "With the help of a courageous local pastor and support from Christians in the US, Azra was miraculously rescued with her debts paid." VOM said plans now are under way to provide training and a place to live "for this courageous young Christian girl who stood firm in her faith through such difficult trials." Voice of the Martyrs is a non-profit, interdenominational ministry working worldwide to help Christians who are persecuted for their faith, and to educate the world about that persecution. Its headquarters are in Bartlesville, Okla., and it has 30 affiliated international offices. It was launched by the late Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, who started smuggling Russian Gospels into Russia in 1947, just months before Richard was abducted and imprisoned in Romania where he was tortured for his refusal to recant Christianity. He eventually was released in 1964 and the next year he testified about the persecution of Christians before the US Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee, stripping to the waist to show the deep torture wound scars on his body
USA is Being Diminished in the Middle East Dec. 6….(FOJ) The Iraq Study commission, the bizarre panel of politicians organized to placate Democrat objections to the Iraq War, and spearheaded by James Baker to save face for the President, has recommended to the President that a renewed and vigorous push to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict be undertaken. The ISG informed the President that the United States cannot otherwise achieve its goals in the Middle East. US allies in the region, including the powerful Sunni leadership in Saudi Arabia, say the Arab-Israeli conflict underlies other Middle East problems and that rancor from the impasse makes other issues harder to solve. The commission recommended that a “diplomatic offensive” be aimed at building an international consensus for stability in Iraq, and that it include every country in the region. Syria and Iran are likely to want something in return for making nice with the US. Damascus may ask the United States to accept Syria's influence in Lebanon, where Washington supports the anti-Syrian government, and to support Syria’s desire to regain the Golan Heights, lost to Israel in 1967, through renewed peace talks. Iran, meanwhile, has demanded that American forces leave Iraq, and accept that Iran has a right to go nuclear. Completely abandoned is the idea that Iran will not be allowed nuclear weapons under the watch of President Bush. America is having to backtrack in the whole Middle East region, even as Russia rides the (Prince of Persia) Iranian wave of rising influence to encircle Israel.
Great Britain and Jordan has thus both urged Washington to pay more attention to the Arab-Israeli peace process, in order to undercut popular support for Islamic militants. The US is undeniably in a weaker position than in the past, due to the political war it has lost domestically over Iraq. Now, the US feels that it is in need of trying to satisfy its friends in the Arab world, a strategy that has always been preferred by the State Department. One Arab diplomat of a US ally remarked, “the age of US monopoly of the tools of the game in the region is over." He is right. And this is probably all according to God’s revealed prophetic word, as the coming reign of the Antichrist must eclipse the present American geo-political position in the Middle East. Our world is marching ever closer to the Peace Process that will be crafted with “the many” with Israel. (Dan 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week) As the ISG stated in its report, the US must relent to engaging every country in the region, and submit to finding a way to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
US Commission Recommends Enhanced Diplomacy to Stabilize Iraq Dec. 6….(Ha Aretz) The United States faces a "grave and deteriorating" situation after three years of war in Iraq, a high-level commission warned bluntly on Wednesday, recommending enhanced diplomacy to stabilize the country and hopefully permit the withdrawal of most combat troops by early 2008. "There is no path that can guarantee success, but the prospects can be improved," the bipartisan commission said after an eight-month review of a war that has resulted in the deaths of more than 2,900 U.S. troops and grown so unpopular at home that it helped trigger a Democratic takeover of Congress in last month's elections. President George W. Bush received the report in an early meeting at the White House with commission members, and pledged to treat each proposal seriously and act in a "timely fashion." He was flanked by the commission's co-chairmen, former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, and former Rep. Lee Hamilton. The report painted a grim picture of Iraq more than three years after U.S. forces toppled Saddam Hussein. It warned that if the situation continues to deteriorate, there is a risk of a "slide toward chaos [that] could trigger the collapse of Iraq's government and a humanitarian catastrophe. "Neighboring countries could intervene. The global standing of the United States could be diminished. Americans could become more polarized," commissioners said. The report said there needs to be a renewed and sustained commitment by the United States to a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace on all fronts: Lebanon, Syria and Bush's June 2002 commitment to a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
Israel Unable to Rely on US to Thwart Iranian Nukes (Incoming American Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the Iranian threat is clear and present but that the U.S. is not guaranteeing protection to Israel) Dec. 6….(Arutz)
Gates will replace Donald Rumsfeld. Asked at his US Senate Armed Services
Committee nomination hearing whether he believed that Iran is seeking nuclear
weapons capability, he answered: "Yes, sir, I do." He also answered in the
affirmative that he believes Iran’s leadership to be lying. Gates said that
there were more powerful forces in Iran than just its president and they are
determined to achieve nuclear weapons, “as a deterrent against nuclear countries
surrounding them, Pakistan in the east, Russia in the north, Israel in the west
and the United States in the Persian Gulf.” He said he is not certain that Iran
would attack the Jewish state, since "the risks for them (Iran) are enormously
high." He added, though, "I don't think anybody can provide that assurance [to
Israel that an attack won’t occur." Gates summed up his position saying he would
not advise a US attack on Iran except as an “absolute last resort” if critical
US interests are threatened. Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
threatened European nations Tuesday that Iran would consider any decision to
join sanctions against Iran due to its nuclear project an act of hostility. The
statement came as representatives from the United Nations Security Council’s
permanent member nations met in Paris to discuss steps to be taken against Iran.
"I'm telling you in plain language that from now on, if you try, whether in your
propaganda or at international organizations, to take steps against the rights
of the Iranian nation, the Iranian nation will consider it an act of hostility,"
Ahmadinejad said, addressing European nations during a speech in northern Iran.
Dec. 6….(AP) Iran, whose president has described the Holocaust as a "myth," said Tuesday they will hold a conference to discuss the evidence that the Nazis committed genocide against the Jews in World War II. The two-day conference scheduled for next week was initiated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called the systematic killing of some six million Jews, which has been extensively researched and documented, a "myth" and "exaggerated.""The president simply asked whether an event called the Holocaust has actually taken place," Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mohammadi as saying. "No rational response was ever given to Ahmadinejad's questions," he added, explaining the rationale for the conference.The Iranian president has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" and the conference appeared to be part of Ahmadinejad's public campaign against the Jewish state.Ahmadinejad told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine in an interview in May that "if the Holocaust didn't take place, why then did this regime of occupation (the state of Israel) come about? Why do the European countries commit themselves to defending this regime?" Mohammadi rejected any suggestion the conference would encourage anti-Semitism, calling discrimination against Jews a "Western phenomenon." The proof of Iran's lack of animosity toward Jews, he said, was Iran's 25,000-strong Jewish community. Mohammadi said the conference seeks to "provide an opportunity for scholars to offer their opinions in freedom." Tehran has announced plans for the conference several times. One such announcement came during a visit to Iran by United Nations chief Kofi Annan in September. During his visit, Annan said an Iranian exhibition of cartoons denying the Holocaust, on display at the time, promoted hatred. The Iranians mounted the exhibit after a wave of anger and violence swept the Islamic world over the publication in a Danish newspaper of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammed. The two-day Holocaust conference, sponsored by the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Institute for Political and International Studies, is scheduled for Dec. 10-11. Some 67 foreign researchers from 30 countries are scheduled to attend, Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. An Israeli Arab who last year opened a Holocaust museum in his home, said in November he planned to attend the gathering in Iran so he could tell the Iranians that the genocide could not be denied. Khaled Kasab Mahameed, a Muslim lawyer from Nazareth said he had been invited to the conference.
Israel Will Face Demands for Concessions in the fresh US Initiative on Israel-Palestinian Peace Advised strongly by the Bipartisan Iraq Study Group Dec. 6….(DEBKA) The panel headed by former secretary of state James Baker and former congressman Lee Hamilton submitted its report to the White House on Wednesday, Dec. 6. It is expected to recommend that Washington talk directly with Iran and Syria, as well as shifting the US military role in Iraq from combat to training by early 2008. The Israeli prime minister’s office, responding to incomplete leaks from the bipartisan reports, assured the public Wednesday that there is no diplomatic pressure on the horizon. His aides must have missed this phrase: “The US cannot achieve its goals in the Middle East unless it embarks on a renewed and sustained commitment to a comprehensive peace plan on all fronts.”A further the recommendation for US troops in Iraq to withdraw “from combat roles” leaves Jordan and Israel exposed on their eastern fronts to the mayhem in Iraq. Since the US presence in Iraq cannot be sustainable without engaging Sunni insurgents and al Qaeda in combat, this wording appears to be a euphemism for the US military exit from Iraq in just over a year. And if the White House indeed takes up the Bush-Hamilton recommendation to deal directly with Iran and Syria, the Bush administrations policy somersault on the Middle East will be complete. Four significant changes are indicated: 1. The US finds itself unable to prevent or respond to an Iranian nuclear attack on Israel, as incoming defense secretary Robert Gates stated bluntly in the Senate committee hearing Tuesday. 2. American forces will be gone from Iraq in just over a year. 3. Washington will soon embark on a fresh Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative. 4. Direct US-Iran, US-Syria talks are in the offing. DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources note that Israel’s leaders, PM Ehud Olmert and FM Tzipi Livni, have not come up with any serious responses to the Gates statement on Iran and the Baker-Hamilton recommendations, both of which bear fundamentally on Israel’s security in the face of existential dangers. They would be well advised to get their act together fast, because the Bush administration is not expected to delay before putting these recommendations into effect.
Gates’ Words Imply the Bush Administration will Disavow Long-held Pledge to Stop Iran Obtaining Nuclear Weapons Dec. 6….(DEBKA) The designated defense secretary Robert Gates’ replied to the Senate committee’s at his confirmation hear Tuesday: “If Iran obtains nuclear weapons no one can promise it would not use them against Israel.” DEBKAfile’s military sources note: This assertion presupposes that Iran will not be stopped from acquiring nuclear weapons. Furthermore, Gates spoke in the plural about nuclear weapons. In all, he addressed three messages to Jerusalem: 1. There are no assurances that we will be able to prevent an Iranian nuclear attack on Israel. 2. Iran’s nuclear arsenal will contain different types of weapons. 3. On the nuclear issue, you are on your own; don’t count on us for a response. These messages slap down the policy laid down by prime minister Olmert and foreign minister Tzipi Livni which assigned responsibility for handling the Iranian nuclear threat to the international community and the US and absolved the Israeli government and armed forces. Gates’ admission that “The US is not winning war in Iraq” is another first from a senior administration official (Later, he tried to amend without changing its import by saying: “We are not losing either.”). He also conveyed to the Senate committee his belief that developments in Iraq over the next year or two will shape the entire Middle East and greatly influence global geopolitics for many years to come." Until Nov. 8, when President Bush nominated Gates in place of Donald Rumsfeld, the nominee was a member of the bipartisan Iraq Study Team, which submits its final report Wednesday. DEBKAfile: The two statements on Iran and Iraq have broad implications for Israel’s strategic and military standing. What they add up to is a harsh reality: The United States, by failing to overcome the Sunni insurgency and al Qaeda in Iraq, and Israel, by similarly failing to subdue Hizballah in the Lebanon war, will have to pay the price of coming to terms with the nuclear weaponization of the Islamic Republic. This may be Gates’ promo for the Baker-Hamilton report. But, more significantly, he sounds as though he is leading up to a fresh White House conception of Persian Gulf strategy, namely that America’s security interests do not warrant any further involvement in the Gulf region. Since it does not depend on Arabian oil like China, Japan, India and other Far Eastern nations, why should the US saddle itself with the protection of the region’s oil resources and routes? This shift in strategic emphasis, if confirmed, would have a profound influence, not only on Israel, but also on Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the oil emirates. But they, unlike Israel, are not caught unawares, having prepared themselves for the past year by opening up alternative sources of weapons and making massive transfers of assets to Asian markets.
Iraq Panel Backs US Withdrawal From Combat (Iraq Study Group on Wednesday calls for new diplomatic, political push to improve 'grave and deteriorating' situation) Dec. 6….(YNET) The Iraq Study Group on Wednesday recommended that US forces begin to withdraw from combat in Iraq and called for a new diplomatic and political push to improve a "grave and deteriorating" situation. US President George W. Bush said he would take the report "very seriously" after meeting with the bipartisan group, but the White House has made clear he will not be bound by its conclusions and has begun its own review of Iraq policy. "The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating," the five Republicans and five Democrats in the group said in the report. "There is no magic formula to solve the problems of Iraq," they added. "Our most important recommendations call for new and enhanced diplomatic and political efforts in Iraq and the region and a change in the primary mission of US forces in Iraq that will enable the United States to begin to move its combat forces out of Iraq responsibly," the report said. White House spokesman Tony Snow said the panel also urged direct US engagement with Syria and Iran on stabilizing Iraq. Bush has so far resisted calls for direct talks with both countries, which he accuses of fueling the insurgency. "This report gives a very tough assessment of the situation in Iraq," Bush said after meeting for about an hour with the group's members. "I told the members that this report, called 'The Way Forward,' will be taken very seriously by this administration," Bush said.
Doubts Grow
Over Muslim Lawmaker's Loyalty Dec. 6….(WND) The first Muslim member of Congress is linked to a radical Islamic school of thought that requires loyalty to the Quran over the US Constitution, WND has learned. Rep.-elect Keith (Hakim-Mohammed) Ellison, D-Minn., has drawn fire for asking to take the constitutional oath on the Quran rather than the Bible at a swearing-in ceremony next month. The Constitution specifies that members of Congress shall be bound by an oath to support the constitutional law of the land. In the oath, Ellison will be required to swear to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion." Critics argue he has conflicting loyalties, while Ellison insists he's a patriot. But within days of being elected, Ellison held a workshop on politics for a group closely affiliated with a radical Islamic school that preaches no Muslim can pledge loyalty to the Constitution or make laws outside the laws of the Quran, which the school's leaders assert is the "supreme law" of the land, trumping all man-made laws including the US Constitution.
A black convert to orthodox Sunni Islam, Ellison spoke to the North American Imams Federation, or NAIF, at the group's Nov. 19 conference in Minneapolis. His talk flowed into a breakout session listed on the agenda simply as "American Open University," according to the conference program. It turns out the university is a "distance-learning" center based in Alexandria, Va., and known to local law enforcement as "Wahhabi Online." The radical Islamic school trains many of NAIF's more than 150 members, who control mosques across America. American Open University supports Sharia, or Islamic law. And its founder and chairman has denounced the USsystem of democracy as "the antithesis of Islam" and argued no man has the right to make laws outside Allah's laws expressed in the Quran. "There is a basic difference between Islam and this form of democracy," he says. "The basic difference is that in Islam it is Allah's law as expressed in the Quran and the Sunna that is the supreme law within the limits of which people have the right to legislate. No one can be a Muslim who makes or freely accepts or believes that anyone has the right to make or accept legislation that is contrary to that divine law," Idris adds. Further, he maintains that no Muslim elected to Congress or the White House can swear to uphold the US Constitution and still be a Muslim. "No Muslim could become president in a secular regime, for in order to pledge loyalty to the constitution, a Muslim would have to abandon part of his belief and embrace the belief of secularism, which is practically another religion. For Muslims, the word 'religion' does not only refer to a collection of beliefs and rituals, it refers to a way of life which includes all values, behaviors and details of living," Idris says. "Separation of religion and state is not an option for Muslims because it requires us to abandon Allah's decree for that of a man." Ellison's campaign was backed by the Washington-based lobby group CAIR, a partner organization to American Open University-affiliated NAIF. CAIR held fundraisers for Ellison, a civil-rights lawyer and one-time acolyte of Louis Farrakhan who admits to making anti-Semitic remarks in the past (under various alias including Keith Hakim, Keith Ellison-Muhammad and Keith X Ellison). CAIR's founder has argued that the Koran should replace the Constitution as the highest authority in the land. The group's director of communications, moreover, has expressed his desire to see the US become an Islamic state. CAIR is an offshoot of the Islamic Association for Palestine, a suspected front for the terrorist group Hamas. Pundit Dennis Prager and other critics have demanded Ellison take the constitutional oath on the Bible, arguing the constitution derives its authority from the Bible, not the Quran. If Ellison puts his hand on the Quran, Prager says he would be in effect nullifying his oath and undermining "American civilization." "He should not be allowed to do so!"
US Defense Secretary-Designate Robert Gates On the Middle East
Dec. 5….(YNET) During his testimony at his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing to replace Donald H. Rumsfeld, Gates was asked about Iran's nuclear program and President Ahamdinejad's threats to wipe Israel off the map. Gates replied that the Iranian president's threats were serious, but that there were greater forces in Iran than Ahmadinejad, who are interested in nuclear ability as a power of deterrence against nuclear countries surrounding them, Pakistan in the east, Russia in the north, Israel in the west and the United States in the Persian Gulf. The senators asked Gates whether he could guarantee that if Iran possesses nuclear weapons it would not put its threats against Israel into action. Gates answered that he did not believe anyone could guarantee such a thing. During the hearing, however, Gates stated that he would not recommend to the president to attack Iran, but only as an "absolute last resort" and if crucial American interests were being threatened. He estimated that an American military operation against Iran could lead to chemical and biological terror attacks. "I think that we have seen, in Iraq, that once war is unleashed, it becomes unpredictable," he said, adding that the consequences of a military confrontation with Iran could be dramatic. He added that while Iran cannot directly attack the Americans, it had the ability to close the Persian Gulf for oil exports, to launch a terror campaign in the Middle East and Europe and even in the US. It's realistic, he said. An American attack in Iran, Gates said, would not help the US in Iraq but would rather damage its interests there. The Iranians, he said, could supply terror groups with weapons for mass destruction, mainly chemical and biological. He added that Tehran also had the ability to operate Hizbullah and undermine the situation in Lebanon. As for Syria, Gates said a US attack on that country would unleash a wave of anti-Americanism in the Middle East. It would have "dramatic consequences for us in the Middle East," Gates said. It would immediately complicate our relations with every country in the region. Gates was chosen by US President George W. Bush to replace Donald Rumsfeld following the latter's resignation, and many in the US hope that he will be the person to bring American soldiers back from Iraq. He admitted that in the current situation, the US was not winning the war in Iraq, but made it clear that it was not fleeing Iraq and would withdraw in an organized manner after the Iraqi government and its security forces are able to control the situation and defend themselves. The developments in Iraq in the next two years will influence the future of the entire Middle East, he said, adding that a strategy must be developed which will not leave Iraq in chaos and will give the region hope. If Iraq is not stabilized in a year or two, the entire Middle East will be on fire, he said. He also estimated that even if there is a significant withdrawal of forces from Iraq in the future, American forces will remain in the country for many years to provide support for the Iraqi army. Gates, 63, said he believes President Bush wants to see Iraq improve to the point where it can govern and defend itself, while seeking a new approach. "Our course over the next year or two will determine whether the American and Iraqi people and the next president of the United States will face a slowly but steadily improving situation in Iraq and in the region or will face the very real risk, and possible reality, of a regional conflagration," Gates said. Gates said that his biggest worry on Iraq is that if US forces departed while the country was in chaos, then predominantly Sunni Arab countries in the region like Saudi Arabia and Turkey would intervene, further complicating the sectarian strife there.
Hamas Chief Vows War Even if PA State is Established (Khaled Meshaal, the Damascus-based leader of the Hamas terrorist organization, makes no bones: Either Israel leaves all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza and agrees to the 'right of return' - or war.)
US Talks With Syria, Iran Could Isolate Israel Dec. 5….(Jerusalem Post) With the US Iraq Study Group expected to recommend on Wednesday that the US diplomatically engage Syria and Iran, Israeli government sources differ widely about the impact this type of engagement might have on Israel. While a senior defense official said US talks with Iran would lead to a slippery slope that would eventually leave Israel alone facing the Iranian nuclear threat, other government officials indicated that US-Iranian talks were needed to stabilize the region since Iran was "calling the shots" everywhere from Lebanon to Gaza. The long-awaited report by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, headed by former secretary of state James Baker and former congressman Lee Hamilton to make recommendations on US policy in Iraq, is to be presented to US President George W. Bush on Wednesday. Sources in the Prime Minister's Office said that Bush told Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on his visit to Washington last month not to expect any "drastic changes" as a result of the report. Bush assured Olmert that the US was looking for new ways to deal with the Iraqi issue, and that this was the main issue that would be dealt with in the non-binding report. "The report deals with American policy," an official in the Prime Minister's Office said. "Obviously we will look at it carefully to see how it impacts on us, but the prime minister does not expect any far reaching conclusions." The official said the feeling Israel has received from the White House was "that there would be no drastic changes from current policy" as a result of the report. Likewise, the assessment in the Foreign Ministry is that the report would deal primarily with US policy in Iraq, and that "is not our business." No work-groups have been set up in the ministry to deal with the issue. One Foreign Ministry official, who said there was no "tension" in Jerusalem over the report, said that while the US might want to engage the Syrians, the price that the Syrians were likely to ask in return, an end to the tribunal investigating the assassination of Rafik Hariri and a foothold in Lebanon, may well be too high for the US to pay. According to Foreign Ministry assessments, the return of the Golan Heights is third on Syria's list of priorities. The official also said there were questions whether even meeting these price tags would be enough to pull the Syrians out of the Iranian orbit, or whether Syrian President Bashar Assad was not too weak or dependent on Syria to break from Teheran completely. Regarding the possibility that the Baker committee would recommend engaging the Iranians, a senior defense official who recently returned from a visit to the US said that the main thing on the Washington agenda right now was getting out of Iraq. According to this official, the Baker committee would likely recommend talking to Iran, and he then envisioned the following scenario unfolding: the Iranians would ask for a guarantee that the US not work to undermine the Iranian regime and for the US to turn a "blind eye" to their nuclear development program, in return for Iranian guarantees to help stabilize Iraq by damping down the Shi'ite violence, thereby enabling a US troop withdrawal. What this meant for Israel, the official said, was that it would be left alone to deal with stopping the Iranian nuclear threat. All analysts agree that Iran is the address for the current problems in Lebanon and Gaza, and that without dealing directly with Teheran, these problems simply won't be solved. The root of the problems is the Iranian ability to manipulate Hizbullah and Hamas. The Iranians are calling the shots. The official said that it was obvious that the price the Iranians would ask in return would be an end to attempts to stop their nuclear program.
Netanyahu: Israel Should Topple the Hamas Government Dec. 5….(DEBKA) In a radio interview Tuesday, the former Likud prime minister questioned the current state leadership’s capabilities for preparing Israel’s armed forces for the “next war.” What should be done now, he said, was to wipe out the burgeoning Palestinian terrorist infrastructure and stem the vast stream of weapons entering Gaza. Instead, the Olmert government was exhibiting weakness by its decision to let eight days of continuous Palestinian ceasefire violations from Gaza go unanswered. In this period, 16 Qassam missiles were fired against Israeli civilian locations. Amid widening criticism of the government’s decision to accept the Hamas “ceasefire” and its violations, Netanyahu said earlier said that Israel’s restraint had the effect of strengthening Hamas and weakening Palestinian moderates. Defending the decision, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert argued to the Knesset foreign affairs and security committee Monday that the Israeli military operation had not stopped the Palestinian missile offensive. DEBKAfile adds: This further stung the military whose anti-missile operation in northern Gaza he halted mid-stream. Olmert also explained that if the ceasefire is allowed to gather momentum it could stimulate diplomatic engagement.
President Bush Meets Shiite al-Hakim in White House
Dec. 5….(AP) Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim is closer to Iran than any other Iraqi politician and runs a Shiite militia blamed for sectarian violence in Iraq. So why did President Bush meet him in the White House? Some Iraqi officials believe Bush wanted to find out what role Iran can play in bringing peace to this country. If anyone in Iraq knows, it is the 55-year-old al-Hakim. Al-Hakim is the leader of Iraq's largest political party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI. He lived in exile in Iran for more than two decades before returning home in 2003 after the ouster of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime. SCIRI was founded in Iran and its affiliated militia, the Badr Brigade, was trained and armed by Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The militia fought alongside the Iranians in their eight-year war against Iraq in the 1980s. Al-Hakim's Sunni Arab critics, in fact, charge that he is more Iranian than Iraqi. "Al-Hakim wants Iran to rule Iraq," Saleh al-Mutlaq, a senior Sunni Arab politician, told Al-Jazeera television interview that aired Sunday. Al-Hakim, who spoke to President Bush for more than an hour at the White House Monday, became leader of the SCIRI when his brother and party founder Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim was killed in a bombing in August 2003. Since then, he has risen from political obscurity into the leader of parliament's largest bloc. While al-Hakim's ties to Iran inspire suspicion among Sunni Iraqis, they apparently enhanced his prestige with the US, especially as the Bush administration searches for an exit strategy from its 44-month-old military involvement in Iraq. Bush refuses to speak directly to Iran, a US adversary for almost 30 years. That prompted al-Hakim to consider volunteering as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran, according to key advisers to the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who talked with al-Hakim before his Washington visit. Iranian influence in Iraq worries the United States and its Arab Sunni allies in the region, like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt.
US Won't Launch Preemptive Strike Against TeheranDec. 5 (Jerusalem Post) Predicting Iran will obtain nuclear weapons by the end of the decade, the defense establishment's new and updated assessment for 2007 does not foresee the United States undertaking a preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear installations, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The chances of an American strike are deemed "low," according to assessments by the security establishment. Israel also believes that international diplomatic efforts to stop Iran will fail, security sources said. In an interivew with the Post in late September, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said US President George W. Bush would prevent the Iranians from obtaining a nuclear bomb. Asked whether he felt Bush would one way or the other stop Iran going nuclear, Olmert responded: "I believe so." In April, after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Iran had passed one of the major hurdles in its race to obtain nuclear power and had, for the first time, successfully enriched uranium, a high-ranking IDF officer told the Post that Iran would obtain nuclear independence in a matter of months. At the time, a battery of 164 centrifuges was used to enrich the uranium to 3.5 percent. To produce highly-enriched uranium at 90%, Iran would need to operate thousands of centrifuges without interruption for a period of several months. Ahmadinejad announced plans last month to build 60,000 additional centrifuges, leading Israel to believe that it was only a matter of time before Iran developed a nuclear capability. Pakistan encountered similar difficulties in its nuclear program but eventually overcame them. The assumption in the defense establishment is that even if sanctions were imposed on Iran today, they would not be effective in deterring the regime from continuing with its nuclear plans. The Democratic takeover of the US Senate and Congress has also led to the prediction that President George W. Bush will not be able to order a military strike. In addition, the prediction is that Bush's administration is headed towards talks with Iran, expected to be one of the recommendations of the Baker-Hamilton report on America's options in Iraq to be presented to the US president on Wednesday. FOJ Note: The US and President Bush have been politically weakened to the point that America’s hands are virtually tied in the war-on-terror. The bottom line is that Iran is indeed going to acquire a nuclear bomb, (regardless of President Bush’s pledge to stop it) and the world has Russia to thank for that looming reality. Israel is left to fend for itself.
Netanyahu: Gaza Turning into A Second Lebanon Dec. 4….(Arutz) Hamas continues to fire rockets, and if its doesn’t stop there will be tragic outcomes which we have already witnessed, Opposition Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu said today. It is completely obvious that Hamas Leader Haniyeh's coordination talks in Damascus and Tehran dealt with the terror activity against Israel. Netanyahu added that "the Olmert restraint policy will lead to a dangerous situation in which Gaza will become a second Lebanon, as Hamas will be strengthened because of the unilateral ceasefire. There is a need to carry out a consistent operation to defeat terror in Gaza, to seal the Philadelphi route and prevent arms smuggling into Gaza."
The Division of Jerusalem Dec. 4….(Israel Today) Israel’s leading politicians, who once referred to Jerusalem as the “undivided and eternal capital of the State of Israel,” are now referring to the city as a “Jewish Jerusalem,” the stress no longer on the word, undivided, but on Jewish. So to maintain the Jewish character of the state and a strong Jewish majority, the Olmert government intends to divest itself of heavily populated Arab areas. Under an emerging plan, Israel would relinquish the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem, including a-Ram, Anata, Abu Dis, Tzur Baher and Jabel Mukaber. “Those same neighborhoods will be central to the makeup of the Palestinian capital, al-Quds,” said Israeli parliamentarian Otniel Schneller, referring to Jerusalem by its Arabic name. Schneller is a member of the ruling Kadima party and an architect of the division plan. It’s all about demographics. About 66 percent of Jerusalem’s 700,000 residents are Jews, and the rest are Arabs. After the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, the Jewish population was 74 percent, and it is expected to drop further over the next 14 years to just 56 percent. While extracting Jerusalem’s Arab neighborhoods, Israel would tighten its grip on other assets, including the Old City, which is home to the Temple Mount and Western Wall, the holiest sites in Judaism. Israel would also strengthen two major settlement blocs, Ma’ale Adumim to the east and Gush Etzion to the south, and make them part of a Greater Jerusalem. After such a land exchange, the number of Arab residents in Jerusalem would be about 110,000, less than half of what it is today. According to a poll, 63 percent of Jewish Israelis support territorial compromise in Jerusalem if it would bring a true and lasting peace. But the Israeli defense establishment is not enthusiastic about dividing the city because it would harm the security of a Jewish Jerusalem.
John Bolton Resigns as Ambassador to UN
Dec. 4….(MSN) Unable to win Senate confirmation, acting UN Ambassador John Bolton will step down when his temporary appointment expires within weeks, the White House said Monday. Bolton’s nomination has languished in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for more than a year, blocked by Democrats and several Republicans. Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a moderate Republican who lost in the midterm elections Nov. 7 that swept Democrats to power in both houses of Congress, was adamantly opposed to Bolton. Critics have questioned Bolton’s brusque style and whether he could be an effective bureaucrat who could force reform at the UN. President Bush gave Bolton the job temporarily in August 2005, while Congress was in recess. Under that process, the appointment expires when Congress formally adjourns, no later than early January. The White House resubmitted Bolton’s nomination last month. But with Democrats capturing control of the next Congress, his chances of winning confirmation appeared slight. The incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, said he saw “no point in considering Mr. Bolton’s nomination again.” While Bush could not give Bolton another recess appointment, the White House was believed to be exploring other ways of keeping him in the job, perhaps by giving him a title other than ambassador. But Bolton informed the White House he intended to leave when his current appointment expires, White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said. President Bush planned to meet with Bolton and his wife later Monday in the Oval Office. As late as last month, the President, through his top aides, said he would not relent in his defense of Bolton, despite unwavering opposition from Democrats who view Bolton as too combative for international diplomacy. Perino said that among Bolton’s accomplishments, he assembled coalitions addressing North Korea’s nuclear activity, Iran’s uranium enrichment and reprocessing work and the horrific violence in Darfur. She said he also made reform at the United Nations a top issue because the United States is searching for a more “credible” and more “effective world body.” “Ambassador Bolton served his country with distinction and he achieved a great deal at the United Nations,” Perino said. “Despite the support of a strong bipartisan majority of senators, Ambassador Bolton’s confirmation was blocked by a Democratic filibuster, and this is a clear example of the breakdown in the Senate confirmation process,” she said. “Nominees deserve the opportunity for a clean up or down vote. Ambassador Bolton was never given that opportunity.”
Islam and Violence Dec. 4….(By Daniel Allott) Following Pope Benedict's remarks on the relationship between faith and violence, a quiet conversation emerged. It highlighted a central question as the West increasingly attempts to engage the Muslim world: Is Islam especially prone to violence? So far, much of the conversation has focused on the violent reactions of some Muslims to the pope's previous comments. But, there's disturbing proof that a far deeper culture of violence pervades much of the Islamic world. In a recent survey on global conflict, Monty Marshall and Ted Burr of the Center for International Development and Conflict Management found that of the 24 major armed conflicts taking place worldwide in 2005, more than half (13) involved Muslim governments or paramilitary groups on one or both sides of the fighting. What's more, among six countries with "emerging armed conflicts," four are predominantly Muslim and another, Thailand, involves a Muslim separatist movement. Marshall and Burr also rated 161 countries according to their capacity to avoid outbreaks of armed conflicts. Whereas 63 percent of non-Muslim countries were categorized as "enjoying the strongest prospects for successful management of new challenges," just 18 percent of the 50 Muslim nations included were similarly designated. In addition, Muslim nations were two-and-a-half times more likely than non-Muslim nations to be considered "at the greatest risk of neglecting or mismanaging emerging societal crises such that these conflicts escalate to serious violence and/or government instability." This evaluation reveals the glaring reality that violence is a fact of life in many Muslim nations. But is Islam itself the impetus? Consider that a recent Pentagon intelligence analysis found that most Muslim terrorists say they are motivated by the Koran's violent commands. The September 11 hijackers and London transit bombers made martyrdom videos in which they recited the Koran while talking of "sacrificing life for Allah." British authorities also recovered martyrdom videotapes in the foiled transatlantic sky terror plot. Shamil Basayev, architect of the 2004 Beslan school massacre in Chechnya, referred to himself as "Allah's slave." Meanwhile, Genocidal Sudanese dictator Gen. Omar Bashir recently swore "three times in the name of Allah" that he would never allow international troops to enter Darfur. And the list goes on. Western liberals often insist that foreign occupation is at the root of Islamic violence. We simply cannot overlook extremist interpretations of religion as a significant part of the problem when terrorists yell, "Allah is great;" as they decapitate their victims or blow themselves up in a crowded market. But the Muslim world's support of faith-based violence is not limited to governments and their non-state proxies. Consider a June Pew Global Attitudes poll that showed a majority of Muslims in Jordan, Egypt and Nigeria, as well as roughly a third in France, Spain and Great Britain, felt violence against civilians can be justified in order to defend Islam. Some Muslims' appetite for destruction is not surprising given the ability of prominent Muslim leaders to foment hatred of the West. The West must recognize these violent outbursts for what they are: calculated acts of outrage meant not to refute but to intimidate non-Muslims into not speaking up at all, and submitting to their dictates. Sadly, with so many in the Islamic world agreeing that Westerners must "convert or die," all signs point to more violence ahead.
Syria’s Devious Weapon for Undermining Siniora Government (al Qaeda infiltrators cross into Lebanon to radicalize Palestinians) Dec. 4….(DEBKA) Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert informed the Knesset foreign affairs and security committee Monday, Dec. 4, that Israel does not intend attacking Syria. Like all its neighbors, Israel is bound to be affected by the turmoil in Lebanon, especially if Hizballah’s pro-Syrian coup-by-demonstration succeeds in overthrowing the anti-Syrian government of Fouad Siniora. Military sources report that the Olmert government should be doubly concerned by Bashar Asad’s latest gambit, filtering Al Qaeda operatives from their Syrian sanctuary into Lebanon, there to foment Palestinian support for Hizballah’s drive to topple the government in Beirut. The largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, Ein al Hilwa near Sidon in the south, saw a conference of the heads of the camp’s Jund Al-Sham factions. Jund Al-Sham, like the Islamic Army of Gaza, is an operational and financial dependant of al Qaeda. They discussed whether to grant entry to Palestinian groups from Syria, and “other Arab factions,” such as “al Qaeda”, “the Islamic Army” and “Fatah al-Islam.” The consensus they reached was that such groups could not be excluded from the Palestinian refugee camps of the south or from Burj al Barajne, Sabra and Chatila near Beirut, because they were already ensconced in the north. In an article published in Dar Al Hayat on Nov. 30, the Lebanese journalist Hassan Haydar asked: “How is it possible for all these armed groups to cross the Syrian-Lebanese border without being spotted by the security apparatus of both sides?” The question was rhetorical. He knows the answer, as do DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources: As we have reported, Syria is arming sympathetic Lebanese factions in readiness for a showdown with anti-Syrian elements in Beirut. Its next step now is to transplant al Qaeda offshoots and affiliates from Syria into Lebanon’s Palestinian camps for three objectives: 1. To remove this incriminating terrorist presence from Syria ahead of a possible thaw in relations with Washington. 2. To radicalize the Palestinians of Lebanon so that in a civil showdown they will fight alongside the pro-Syrian forces. 3. To radicalize the Palestinian people at large, and so disarm and isolate the moderates, not only in Lebanon, but also in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as well. Damascus will of course deny deploying these jihadists at strategic points for destabilizing pro-Western governments and defeating peace diplomacy. But Syria also denies a hand in promoting the violence in Iraq by similar infusions.
President Bush Meeting Iraqi Shiite Leader Ties With Iran Dec. 4….(AP) A Shiite powerbroker reviled by Sunni Arabs for his ties to Iran and a militia linked to sectarian violence will ask President Bush to seek Iran's help in their upcoming White House meeting and try to allay US concerns over Iranian influence in Iraq. Al-Hakim is arguably the most powerful Shiite politician in Iraq, but he prefers to work behind the scenes. He wanted a close SCIRI associate, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, to be prime minister after elections in December, but grudgingly accepted al-Maliki as a compromise. The two men have since maintained a public image of cooperation to safeguard the ruling coalition. Speculation in Iraq that al-Hakim was emerging as a rival for Washington's attention was fueled in part by an internal White House memo that questioned al-Maliki's authority and his ability to handle Iraq's worsening security. Written by National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley after he met al-Maliki in Baghdad, the memo also spoke of the need for the Iraqi leader to end his alliance with the anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia, the Mahdi Army, is blamed for much of Iraq's sectarian violence. The timing of al-Hakim's meeting with Bush raised the possibility that Washington may also be looking for additional sources of help as it tries to stabilize Iraq, allowing a drawdown on US forces to begin. Al-Hakim is expected to try to persuade Bush to enlist Iran's help in quelling violence in Iraq. In return, they said, al-Hakim would pledge not to allow Iran to use him to promote its own interests, said by analysts to be "controlled chaos" that keeps the United States preoccupied with Iraq. Al-Hakim has close links with Shiite Iran, where he lived in exile for years before he returned to Iraq after the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-led regime. His Badr Brigade militia, trained and armed by the Iranians, is blamed for some of Iraq's sectarian violence. Al-Hakim's militia links and close ties to Iran, however, have gone unmentioned by Washington, perhaps in recognition of his political leverage. President Bush is under pressure from Sunni Arab allies, like Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, who have become alarmed at the rise of Iraq's majority Shiites to resist the Shiite formula.
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Dec. 29….(Breitbart) The
official witnesses to Saddam Hussein's impending execution gathered Friday
in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone in final preparation for his hanging, as
state television broadcast footage of his regime's atrocities. The Iraqi
government readied all the necessary documents, including a "red card," an
execution order introduced during Saddam's dictatorship. As the hour of his
death approached, Saddam received two of his half brothers in his cell on
Thursday and was said to have given them his personal belongings and a copy
of his will. Najeeb al-Nueimi, a member of Saddam's legal team in Doha,
Qatar, said he too requested a final meeting with the deposed Iraqi leader.
"His daughter in Amman was crying, she said 'Take me with you,'" al-Nueimi
said late Friday. But he said their request was rejected. An adviser to
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saddam would be executed before 6 a.m.
Saturday, or 10 p.m. Friday EST. Also to be hanged at that time were
Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the former
chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, the adviser said. The time was
agreed upon during a meeting Friday between US and Iraqi officials, said the
adviser, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak to
the media. "Saddam will be handed over shortly before the execution," the
official said. The physical transfer of Saddam from US to Iraqi authorities
was believed to be one of the last steps before he was to be hanged. Saddam
has been in US custody since he was captured in December 2003.
Dec.
28….(FOJ) This picture shows a general view of Muslim pilgrims praying at
the Grand Mosque in the Saudi holy city of Mecca. Around two million Muslims
will began the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca amid increased safety measures
aimed at preventing stampedes which each year claim scores of lives. The Kaaba,
or black cube in the center of the mosque compound is the object of worship for
millions of Muslims.
Dec.
27….(Jerusalem Post) Russia's stubborn refusal to impose even mild UN
sanctions against Iran resulted in a substantially watered-down resolution that
is altogether unlikely to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The
resolution exempts a nuclear reactor project supported by Russia, even though it
could eventually supply plutonium for nuclear weapons. Complicating matters
further, Russian-supplied air defenses surround Iranian nuclear facilities.
Yasser Arafat the terrorist, was a man a number of US
administrations tried to package as a statesman, and whose demands for a country
built on another nation’s land was not only sanctioned, but actively supported
by at least four American presidents, was long known to have been directly
responsible for the March 2, 1973 killing in Khartoum, the Sudan, of Ambassador
Cleo Noel and Charge d'Affaires George Curtis Moore. But presidents Jimmy
Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush all chose to overlook
Arafat’s brazen butchery of American men in order to help him achieve statehood
for his people – on ancient Jewish lands. The reason for this official
government misrepresentation and protection of Arafat was that it was best to
shore up this leader of “the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian
people” against the other “more radical” terrorist individuals and
organizations. Put simply, Arafat was the best hope for peace in the Middle
East. Everything went into strengthening and preparing him for it. Yes,
Arafat was viewed as someone America could do business with, as long as it was
prepared to overlook his small discretion in Khartoum.
Dec.
20….(Israel Insider) Arab residents of Palestine in 1948 were not expelled
by Israeli officials or military forces, as many claim, but were actually
ordered to leave by local Arab leaders, says Palestinian journalist Mahmud Al-Habbash
who writes for the official Palestinian Authority newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida.
Al-Habbash writes in his column, "The Pulse of Life," that Arab residents were
explicitly instructed by their local Arab leaders to leave their homes when the
'Catastrophe' (the establishment of the State of Israel) occurred in 1948. While
creating a false but effective political problem for Israel, the Arabs leaders'
instructions for residents to leave their homes has bred internal resentment and
anger. Says Al-Habbash: "The leaders and the elites promised us at the beginning
of the 'Catastrophe' in 1948, that the duration of the exile will not be long,
and that it will not last more than a few days or months, and afterwards the
refugees will return to their homes, which most of them did not leave only until
they put their trust in those false promises made by the leaders and the
political elites. Afterwards, days passed, months, years and decades, and the
promises were lost with the strain of the succession of events." Other
Palestinians have noted that the local Arab leaders used tactics of intimidation
and public scorn to motivate residents to leave. My father and grandfather told
me that during the 'Catastrophe' our district officer issued an order that
whoever stays in Palestine and in Majdel [near Ashkelon, Southern Israel] is a
traitor. Today, the official Palestinian historical narrative vigorously claims
that Arab residents were forced to leave by Israeli forces. Much of the
justification behind Palestinian terror organization’s resides in the claim that
Arab residents were forced to leave, and so have legal refugee status and a
legitimate claim to the right of return. Claims to the contrary, especially
coming from within the Palestinian establishment, could prove damaging to the
Palestinian refugee status and demands for right of return since, according to
international law, if Palestinians left by their own will or under orders from
their own leaders they would not necessarily qualify for refugee status.
Palestinian refugee status is a hotly contested issue. The main UN refugee
organization, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCR), which
has successfully aided millions of refugees to return to a relatively normal
life, does not service the Palestinian refugee population. For unknown reasons,
the UN established a separate refugee organization, the United Nations Relief
and Works Agency (UNRWA), devoted solely to Palestinians, something not done for
any other refugee population in the world. 
Dec. 18….(Ha
Aretz) 
Dec.
15….(DEBKA) Mahmoud Abbas’ loyalists fired on Haniya's convoy as it entered
Gaza, killing a bodyguard, injuring five including his son. Hamas accused Fatah
leader Mohammed Dahlan of orchestrating the attack. Haniya returning from the
two-week tour Thursday night was permitted by Israel to enter through the Rafah
crossing minus the suitcases packed with an estimated $31m out of the quarter of
a billion Iran donated to Hamas’ war chest during his visit to Tehran. Abbas’
presidential guard, Force 17, opened fire on Hamiya’s convoy as it drove
through, further raising the pitch of the Hamas-Fatah violence sweeping the Gaza
Strip since Sunday. Abbas has promised a "speech to the nation" Saturday and is
expected to call a new election and declare the Hamas government transitional.
Hamas would regard this move as a casus belli. Shops shut down in central
Ramallah Friday against rival Hamas and Fatah processions exploding into
clashes. Thursday, hundreds of Hamas Ezz e-Din al-Qassam militiamen reacted to
the Rafah closure by seized control of the Rafah crossing under heavy gunfire
which put the European monitors and Fatah Presidential Guard 17 troops to
flight. They then tore down the terminal structures and blew up the border
fence. The compromise which let Haniya through was negotiated by Egyptian
intelligence chief Omar Suleiman who guaranteed the cash from Tehran would be
deposited with the Arab League in Cairo. The Palestinian prime minister was
accompanied on his tour by a senior Hamas military delegation led by Abu Obeida
al Jerat, who signed military pacts with the heads of Iran’s Revolutionary
Guards for them to give Hamas terrorists advanced combat training. DEBKAfile’s
military sources say Israel should have prevented Haniya’s entry with his party,
even without the cash, to prevent the Iranian military training program from
getting started in the Gaza Strip.
Dec.
13….(Ha Aretz) Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with Catholic Pope
Benedict XVI today. The Pope praised Israel’s policy of adhering to a cease-fire
deal with Hamas despite the continued missile attacks on its citizens.
Dec.
8….(Jerusalem Post) Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh
vowed on his arrival in Teheran today that his Hamas-led government would never
recognize Israel and would continue to fight for the liberation of Jerusalem.
"The world's arrogance (US) and Zionists, want us to recognize the usurpation of
the Palestinian lands and stop jihad and resistance and accept the agreements
reached with the Zionist enemies in the past," Haniyeh told thousands of Friday
prayer worshippers at Teheran University. The United States is pressing the
Hamas-led Palestinian government to recognize Israel, renounce violence and form
a national unity government with Fatah in a bid to revive the peace process with
Israel. "I'm insisting from this podium that these issues won't materialize. We
will never recognize the usurper Zionist government and will continue our
jihad-like movement until the liberation of Jerusalem," he said. Haniyeh arrived
in the Iranian capital on Thursday for a four-day visit for talks with Iranian
leaders including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has called for Israel to be
"wiped off the map." The PA prime minister is on his first tour abroad since his
Hamas-led government took office in March. Haniyeh
called Iran, a longtime ally of Hamas, the Palestinians' "strategic depth"
because they were together in their fight against Israe
Dec. 5….(Arutz)
Meshaal is officially the head of the diplomatic desk of Hamas, but is
recognized as the #1 man in the terrorist organization. The target of a failed
Israeli assassination attempt a decade ago, Meshaal told a Lebanese newspaper
this week that Hamas will not hesitate to resume its armed warfare against
Israel. Specifically, he threatened, "If within six months, the international
community does not come up with a plan for the establishment of a Palestinian
state in the 1967 borders (on all the land liberated by Israel in the Six Day
War) and for the return of the refugees, the Palestinians will turn to an
armed struggle against Israel." "We can have an intifada even when running the
Palestinian Authority," Meshaal said, explaining that the ceasefire was not
designed to bring peace, but is rather another stage in the war with Israel.
"The current cease-fire in Gaza, just like the escalation before that, is part
of the way we manage the conflict with Israel." Many Israeli military men and
analysts have said that Hamas is using the current truce in Gaza to rearm and
regroup towards the next round of fighting. Hamas Authority Prime Minister
Ismail Haniye, visiting in Syria, echoed Meshaal's position in a speech at a
refugee camp. He said the Palestinians will not give up on "even one grain of
sand of Palestine," and that Syrian President Assad promised him that all the
Palestinian terrorist prisoners incarcerated in Israel would be freed.
